


The Junkie and The New Girl

by Bridthesin



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Depression, Drug Use, Emotional Baggage, F/M, Feelings, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Physical Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sex, Slow Burn, Spanking, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-14 02:56:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 46
Words: 106,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5727118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bridthesin/pseuds/Bridthesin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harriette Monroe (Harry to... well everyone) didn't trust easily, she'd learnt pretty quickly that you can't always tell who the good guys are. she wasn't exactly happy when she stumbled into Goodneighbour bleeding and desperate and was forced to trust the first stranger who stabbed someone for her.</p><p>Hancock survived on a cocktail of chems and regret. No matter how many people he helped or what he built up for his band of misfits it was never enough. That's until a woman comes stumbling into his life covered in blood and nearly bites Finns head off.</p><p>There are some very graphic and violent parts of this  including a graphic depiction of rape but they don't come up until later in chapter 32. I'll put warnings up at the beginning of the chapters that contain this and a summary at the end of each so you can just skip it if you want to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The New Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Hancock meet and it's not exactly a fairytale.

          She was always the new girl, never staying in one place long enough to be known as more, not since waking up. It had been years ago now when she'd woken but it still felt like yesterday. One day she was having breakfast with her husband, glad his tour of duty was over since the war seemed to be escalating. They had a baby to think about and how could she manage to raise their son without him? The news story came as a shock to everyone, we didn't know it had got that bad, no one did. They froze her in the vault those soulless bastards, told them it was a decontamination unit. She had no choice, her husband took their tiny little son, Shawn, and should have been out in seconds to start their new life. She woke from her frozen nothingness again, no sense of time, confusion ringing in her head. She saw her husband shot and son taken before being plunged once more into dreamless sleep. When she woke again, shivering but finally free it was 200 years later, or more precisely 210 as the robot told her. She couldn't get her head around it and the fact that codsworth was still there at her old home in sanctuary hills. She simply knew she had to find Shawn, he was alone and helpless without her.

          He grew up in a little shack by the waterfront, his mother was kind but a little distant and his bigger brother bullied him relentlessly. It was a pretty normal childhood all round, as much as possible out here. It was when he was older it all fucked up, when his brother turned against people just for the sake of power. He didn't blame him, he blamed himself, he should have done more for those poor families. He just wanted to make up for all he'd let happen while he just stood by and watched. He grew tough, numb to most of the guilt now but it was still so deeply ingrained it would never go, he'd do anything not to have to sit by and watch good people hurt again.

          After years of wandering and learning she was starting to feel better about this world. After setting up a new place in sanctuary hills she thought about just staying there but the beaten up houses and all the scraggy old trees were like a badly done recreation of her home. She took what she'd learned there, about basic first aid, water purification and crop growth, how to trap and tame a bramin and a whole pile more. Most of all she learnt that, even though they might be dirty and rougher than the people of the old world this commonwealth still had good people in it.  
She’d spent most of her time just walking, these days she was good enough with the weapons that covered her body that little scared her out here. A ruin in the distance would pull her in, she'd collect stuff, despite being weighed down by weapons and armour she had grown used to hoarding anything that seemed even slightly useful. Every now and then she would come across a settlement, usually little more than a family, clinging on to a desperate existence out here. That's usually when the hoarding got useful, she'd break stuff down and build it into new stuff and after hard work and backbreaking toil there would be a thriving farm or a busy trade post in the place of the sad little settlement. They were always thankful and some urged her to stay but she always got the wanderlust again, after all she had something to find.

          He'd spent years, decades building up Goodneighbour after taking it from the old Mayor, arsehole didn't deserve it. He championed the idea of a free society, of the people for the people. It took some time to bring everyone in line, some didn't get it, the concept that it didn't matter who you were, just what you did was too much for them to grasp. They needed dealing with.  
These days the place ran mostly by itself, sometimes someone would need to be put down or taught a lesson but he had people for that. He felt restless, he felt like he'd done all he could here but the place was home. He didn’t expect her to burst into his life and turn it all upside down and inside out, make him rethink everything.

          She'd wandered too long now, reached the old city of Boston after a short trip back to Diamond City. She knew it was dangerous here, but so was every day of her life and it just felt like the same old shit when a bunch of supermutants attacked. She fought them off but barely, her face was bleeding from a deep cut, her side hurt like hell and one of her arms felt heavy. As she stumbled on through the grey rubble and the dull colours of the broken metal and wood she heard a shout. Fuck, gunners, no stimpaks, hardly any ammo and her in this state, she had to make a run for it. Everything became a blur as she sprinted desperately away, the last of her strength going into that burst of speed. She had nothing left, her breath coming fast and gasping when she saw a sign, she felt a little like mama murphy as the glowing words seemed prophetic appearing at the exact moment she needed them most. But this was just dumb luck, not fate and the sign said Goodneighbour a name she had heard before, never in a positive tone. Still it would have shops and doctors, someone could fix her up there at least.  
          Through the gate and the noise hit her, the place was alive compared to the dead silence of torn buildings outside. The street was grubby with two shops and a big old building sandwiched awkwardly between them and the junk wall. The place was full of people, all nattering away and filling her head, she felt dizzy,  
          “Hey you new here? can’t go wandering around without insurance” came the voice of a rough looking man wearing tatty leathers. She knew What he was up to, you didn’t manage this long in the commonwealth without a bit of sense,  
          “Not interested” she said, walking past him towards the nearest authority figure, well a man in a suit and hat holding a gun anyway, she figured he’d know where to find a doctor. The leather clad guy wasn't done with her yet though, grabbing her arm at the elbow and trying to pull her back to him. She felt the anger bubble up inside her, she could easily gut the guy in seconds but that wouldn’t be a good idea in a new place. She turned around to give him a warning but a guy, well a ghoul, already stood by him, he released his grip,  
          “You know first visit to Goodneighbour's free Finn, cut the extortion crap” the ghoul said, standing with a confidence she hadn't seen in a long time.  
          “What do you care, ain't like she's one of us”  
          “No love for your mayor Finn? I said let her go”  
          “You're going soft Hancock” so that was his name she thought as she watched the scene through blood soaked eyes, "you keep letting newcomers walk all over us one day there's gonna be a new Mayor"  
          “Come on this is me we’re talking about Finn” the Mayor reached out towards the guy in what seemed like a friendly gesture but the hand reaching into his back pocket told her to be wary. She knew it was coming but somehow still flinched when the knife glinted before being buried in Finn's gut. Somehow she still held onto some of the old world values and had issues with killing people who didn’t draw first.  
The confident ghoul walked towards her and she studied him in stunned silence, his face bore the usual marks of a ghoul and she didn't expect to find hair under the leather tricorn hat he wore. Still his face had an expressive quality, the scars not stopping him from showing every flicker of emotion. He wore a tattered red frock coat that looked like it had been mended so many times it probably didn't have an original seam. It did well at hiding his body along with a frilled shirt (wait why was she thinking about his body, a side effect of being “rescued” perhaps). Brown trousers, muddy boots and an ancient American flag as a belt finished the look. He wore it well, his swaggering walk making up for the edge of theater the outfit bore. He spoke, shaking her from her reverie,  
          “I hope this little incident doesn't colour your picture of Goodneighbour” he said jovially, concern suddenly flashed across his face before being replaced by his usual confident smirk, “do you need a doctor?” she simply nodded at him, too weak to speak and concentrate on remaining upright at the same time,  
          “Follow me,” was all he said, as he gently took her arm and directed her towards the big old building. She had no choice but to follow in her current state, her head filling with cotton wool. She didn’t know him and was not quick to trust, especially some charismatic man she just met who stabbed a guy right in the middle of a busy street. He led her up a grand, winding staircase and through double doors closing them behind him. She realised they were alone and she didn't know if this man was her saviour or her attacker. With the last spurt of energy she spun round ready to defend herself from the inevitable attack. And fell unconscious, he may have caught her, he may equally have just let her fall to the ground, she wasn’t in any position to complain.

          He caught her as she fell, gently lowering her to the ground before studying her face. He knew everyone who lived in or visited Goodneighbour, even most of the strays who wandered in once in awhile but this girl was news to him,  
          “FAHR… FAHRENHEIT… LITTLE HELP HERE” he shouted for his bodyguard, trying to sound casual since it struck him that this girl probably didn’t want all the neighbourhood knowing about this, he trusted Fahrenheit with his life though. She sauntered into the room and her eyes landed on the passed out body and back up to Hancock, she raised an eyebrow,  
          “What’d you do now?” she asked him condescendingly, she was the only one who could get away with talking to him like that without at least a little stabbing  
          “Well there you go jumping to conclusions, for once something dramatic happened in here and I didn’t cause it”  
          “So you want me to deal with her for stealing your limelight?” she joked  
          “Not just yet, get hold of Dr Amari, it’s not really her field but I’m sure she can patch her up. weird thing is I didn’t realise how bad she was till just now… it was like she was so determined she managed to ignore the wounds until the last minute, takes some balls that”  
          “Boss I think you’re taking too much jet”

          She was aware of being carried, then of the cold and a bed beneath her and someone prodding her. Not much else got through the blackness. And that ghouls face just kept swimming in front of her.

          Hancock's long, thin fingers tapped on the desk, across the room the doctor talked to two people he hardly knew. She seemed to be explaining something to them but he could hardly tell what anymore. His head swam, sure the cocktail of drugs he'd been on for pretty much the past two decades had something to do with that but it was more. He kept thinking about a blood covered woman who, despite her injuries seemed ready to rip Finn's head clean off. When he'd heard the commotion and seen the messy, hurt, tired woman and the thugs hand on her arm he’d lost it a bit and had to pop a mentat to keep his cool. He'd stabbed him to show off mostly, god knows why but this woman just seemed so unfazed even when her vault suit was slowly turning red. After she collapsed in his arms he'd taken her to the whitewashed old room that made up for their lack of a proper clinic and doctor Amari had fixed her up. Now he waited for her to wake so he could see her again, he's not normally this impatient. Suddenly the doors burst open,  
          “HANCOCK”

          She’d woken alone in a room hastily whitewashed over crumbling paper. She seemed to be wearing a man's shirt and… oh god… nothing else. Memories of the ghoul, Hancock, (she must stop thinking of him as the ghoul now she knew his name) swam into her head. Oh god I have to get out of here, god knows what he could have done to me she thought to herself. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand, a sharp pain emanating from her back, just above her right hip. Shit she sat back down on the bed and examined herself, she'd been bandaged up around her waist and her arm and could feel stitches in her forehead. There was also med-x on the bedside table. She didn't do chems herself, other than stimpaks of course, but she would often carry med-x to help injured people during her travels. She knew how to administer it and the effects, well no better time than this to give it a go right? She slid the tip of the needle into her arm and felt a melting sensation as the world went fuzzy around the edges. This time when she tried to stand she didn't feel any pain at all and set off to find her things. She forgot her state of undress and wandered around the hallways bouncing off walls in her unsteady state looking for the double doors she remembered. When she found them she shoved both open with all her might,  
          “HANCOCK” she yelled to a room full of people, well 4 people, the woman in a white coat ran over to her. She could see him across the room, laughing so hard no sound actually came out, his face twisted like a clown. She hated him then, that he could keep her their, undress her, do whatever he wanted then laugh at her anger. The woman in white bundled her away and returned her to the whitewashed room despite her protestations.

          Fuck, he hadn't laughed like that in weeks. When the door flew open and there she stood, her arms outstretched, her legs bare. Hell that shirt only just covered her essentials and god those legs, thin, long, shapely, he could easily picture them wrapped around his head. And the fire in her eyes, a burning passion only fury and drugs can muster, she was so angry but that only made it funnier… and sexier.  
 _Ah hell, she's out of my league by a mile, by several miles._ Still he couldn't exactly help looking when she appeared at his door like that. He'd have to go talk to her of course, straighten out whatever was going on in her head. He should probably ask her name too,  
          “Right, we're done” he said to the two men sat in his office for god knows what reason, “stay here, go I don't care but I've got some business to attend to”  
          He strode across the room and out the door leaving the two men completely confused but he really didn't care. Like he said, he had business to attend to.

          She had been shoved, cajoled and eventually persuaded back into bed, by the doctor only to have her start poking and prodding at her. The fiery anger still burned within her but now that the drug had started to seep away it seemed less… well less burning. A knock at the door and Hancock stepped in,  
          “Doctor can you leave us alone a moment” he asked the woman prodding at her  
          “You can have all the time you want, I'm almost done, on one very serious condition, she does not get out of bed no matter what”  
          “You have my word” he said with a little bow as the doctor left. He looked towards her, an attempt at a stern expression barely masking his smirk. He caught the anger on her face and simply burst out laughing. She waited for him to be done, it only added to her rage,  
          “Haha... sorry.... sorry I shouldn’t laugh but...” Hancock said, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes as his laughter slowed to a gentle chuckle, “you looked… god you gave them something to talk about”  
          “You can't keep me here you know” she said a level of threat in her voice  
          “Oh sweetheart I'm not intending to keep you here, though in your position I'd take the opportunity to recover first. Oh and I didn’t undress you, doctor Amari did that and no you aren't in my bed this is the makeshift clinic set up for…. Situations like this and the med-x you took was pretty strong stuff and I should know, had some earlier” she had thought of him as some sort of predator not as the sort of person who helps out a stranger like this. Still she knew nothing was free in this world,  
          “No one is this nice… well no one is this nice and also stabs someone in broad daylight. What do you want in return?”  
          “Nothing like what you're thinking, although I wouldn't say no! You strike me as someone I'd like owing me a favour,”  
          “I don’t really work like that, I won’t do whatever you want no matter how many times you save my life”  
          “I just ask you to listen, when you're thinking of… say blowing up a town you take my opinion into consideration, anyway you have great legs, they seem worth helping you for”  
          “Fine, I’ll give you a call next time I blow up a town” she said to him sarcastically, he pulled a face and ignored her,  
          “Do I get to know your name or do I have to keep thinking of you as the woman with the legs?”  
          “Harry… well if you're being formal it's Harriette Monroe and I'd rather you stopped talking about my legs”  
They sat and talked until she felt tired and he left her to sleep. Hancock had never had trouble with women, Hell he'd even been with a few men just for the thrill. There was something different about this one though, yea she was fragile and human but there was something unbreakable in there. That and she was stunning even with stitches in her face.  
          Harriette only stayed three days, she was well too soon and headed back out into the world. As time passed Hancock forgot about the strange woman who turned up covered in blood. The drugs dulled the feelings she stirred up and other women passed through his life. But in just as wild a manner as she first appeared the girl called Harry would eventually burst back into his life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow no matter how many times I read through this first meeting with Hancock in so many different fic's I just can't get enough of it.


	2. Lets Get This Show On The Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is used to being alone, there was one point she'd dragged Dogmeat around but the first time he got seriously hurt she sent him right back to live in Sanctuary. So when she ends up running into Hancock again and he makes a suggestion (and for once not a lurid one) she's a little taken aback.

          She'd heard about the job from Daisy, the ghoul who ran a store in Goodneighbour. Harry often popped into the town to sell things she'd collected locally and had ended up making quite a friendship with her. The job had been described as a heist on the Mayor of Diamond City, tunnelling underneath. She'd never entirely trusted Bobbi no nose, there was just something about her. Turns out that instinct was right. Hancock's bodyguard Fahrenheit was waiting for them when they finally made it through. It had been bobbis plan all along to dig through to Hancock's strong room, hoping the lure of caps would be enough to keep them from turning against her. It wasn't and, despite Harry trying to persuade her to leave she wouldn’t and went down in flames as Harry turned away and fought back tears.

          Fahrenheit Knocked on his door and let herself in without waiting for an answer, she’d just got back from the still full storeroom after the confrontation with Bobbi’s little gang. Hancock looked up at her,  
          “And?” he said demandingly to his second in command, she flopped onto the sofa and lit a cigarette before replying,  
          “All went down as you expected mostly, Bobbi’s not a problem anymore”  
          “Dead or gone?”  
          “Well it took a while to clean up the blood”  
          “Ah, and I assume she didn’t do this alone, not her style”  
          “That’s the thing, it was the usual except for one late addition, your vault dweller”  
          “What do you mean by my vault dweller?” He’d been hearing about her a lot lately, a surprising amount of it from diamond city radio, seems she’d had a lot of adventures. Every time she was mentioned he thought about those legs,  
          “That little blood covered thing you saved a few months back, name’s Harry”  
          “I know who you mean but how is she _my_ vault dweller?”  
          “She seemed pretty loyal”  
          “I wouldn’t count breaking into my strong room amongst the loyalest things anyone’s ever done for me”  
          “She didn’t know, as soon as she did she changed her mind even tried to persuade Bobbi to leave but the stubborn wretch refused, something about knocking you down a peg, load of bullshit if you ask me… oh by the way I told your vault dweller to come see you, figured you might want to thank her in person if you get my drift” he said thank you and asked her for some time alone, he had some things to think through.  
          This whole thing with bobbi had him thinking, maybe it was time to call it quits on the whole mayoral thing. He'd done so much, making this place into somewhere you could lock your door and only have it broken into a few times a year. Goodneighbour was rough but that's how he liked it, freedom sometimes got a bit dirty. Now though he kept feeling like there was never a fair choice, like any time he tried to make a decision someone got shafted. He felt like his brother, he'd never understood but sometimes letting one person be free meant chaining another to the railings.  
          He needed to clear his head, get away from all the power and the easy living, feel what it's like to fight for what he's got again. Maybe it was the perfect timing for this Harry to drop back into his life, she owed him one after all and it'd be nice to have someone to travel with. Maybe he'd ask, maybe they'd go see the world together and live happily ever after… that thought made him splutter out a laugh, he was too cynical for that sort of thinking. Still, she seemed like she had a good head on her shoulders and it didn’t hurt that she was nice to look at. He'd ask, all he can do now is ask.

          Harry expected a lecture so when she entered the room she didn't expect to find a pensive Hancock stood against the back wall, half silhouetted in the open window behind him. She realised this was the first time she'd properly seen the room, when she wasn’t passing out or drugged up that is. She was actually shocked by the size, it was a massive room as drab and peeling as the others but grand. The center was taken up by a big rug and a low table flanked on either side by oversized comfy looking sofas. Shoved into the corner like an afterthought was a big desk, an imposing but soft looking chair on one side and a basic wooden one on the other. She got the distinct feeling that this corner was where Hancock spent most of his time, like he was an afterthought too.  
          “For your loyalty” he said, throwing a bag of caps in her direction, Harry caught them expertly.  
          “Thanks, sorry about the whole mess”  
          “Nahh why be sorry, it's not like you planned it”  
          “Yea, that's true”  
          “Do you think I'm getting too comfortable up here? forgetting what I did this for? Seems these days I'm putting down people I would have been happy to scheme with not so long ago. Thinking maybe I need to go for a walk”  
          “Can you do that? Doesn't Goodneighbour need you, you are the Mayor”  
          “I'm still the Mayor even if I'm not in residence, I do this from time to time, get some perspective, stop me taking it all for granted you know”  
          “Yea, I get it, what's the plan then?”  
          “I was hoping a certain someone might want the most handsome guy in the commonwealth at her back? You know, us travel together?”  
          “I don’t usually do together” she said dubiously stopping to think for a moment “can we have a drink? I'll think about it over a drink”  
          “Unless you want something stronger… wink wink”  
          “Did you just actually say wink wink?”  
          “Yep, and?”  
          “Oh nothing, I’ll just stick to alcohol”  
          “Sure, I got plenty, what's your poison?”  
          “Whiskey, I always used to drink whiskey, don't get the chance so much anymore” she thought about how, before Shawn, she would have a nice glass of neat whiskey every once in awhile, not very housewife she knew, but she liked it. Hancock brought over two cut glasses and a dirty looking bottle, it was stuff made after the war, never a touch on what she had remembered but this bottle wasn’t half bad. One of the things she loved about this new world was the chance to be herself, she always felt like she had to lie to fit into the old world of picket fences and neighbourhood watch. She asked Hancock a few questions, he wasn’t too guarded, she liked that, never having gotten on with the two faced small talk of her old life.  
          They talked and drank long into the night, she realised she was laughing more than she had in weeks and, though still guarded, was opening up to this weirdo more than she thought she would. Neither one noticed the sun coming up until it was filling the room with light even through the shuttered or boarded up windows. Harry jumped up suddenly,  
          “Oh god it's morning, how long has it been morning?”  
          “Dunno, since the sun came up I guess, I didn't really notice”  
          “Neither did I. I suppose I must have been a bit lonely on the road to talk none stop for this long…. Ok, let's do it”  
          “Do what exactly?” Hancock winked,  
          “None of what you're thinking… actually I'm not entirely sure I want to guess what you're thinking”  
          “Just give me a moment, gotta address the town, can't let them think I’ve just run off like a man in the night”  
          Harry watched from the room as Hancock spoke to the people of Goodneighbour, he really was good at it, spoke more like a conversation than a speech. The people really loved him she felt a pang of guilt at taking away their beloved Mayor, but maybe this was all part of how Hancock stayed Hancock. They cheered him, she didn't think anyone had ever cheered her and now she got to spend all day with this charismatic genius of a public speaker… well maybe she'd learn something, like not to hover in the background and how to take credit for what you've done. He broke her from that reverie with the words she would one day treasure,  
          “Let's get this show on the road”

          _What the hell is she doing, testing me?_ Hancock thought. She'd brought him to a spot not far from Goodneighbour where he knew there were some raiders holed up (he liked to think he knew everything that went on around his town), they weren't exactly high priority. _That's it isn't it, she's testing me?… well I'll give her something to look at!_ Harry had crouched, hidden behind a tumble down wall clearly surveying the raiders. He already knew exactly how many there were and their positions, wasn't long before she did too. One thing she hadn’t spotted was the big yellow explosives box, partially covered over but still visible from where he stood. He could have a little fun here, it's not like it'd be dangerous, hell given the right chems he could take them all down in seconds. He rooted through the box whilst Harry said something he couldn’t quite hear… sweet, three grenades… useful. He lobbed one directly at the raider stood in the doorway, Harry’s head whipped round almost quick enough to do her an injury. He ran straight past her shocked face, a grin on his and a shotgun in his hand. Two… three… four, he took out one after another as she picked off those in the distance before they could charge him. Five… six… reaching into his pocket he took a quick hit of jet, the world slowing around him. He took an indulgent second or two to look at her fighting in slow motion. She really was a sight, her face a picture of concentration and rage, he long hair flowing behind her and her limbs moving in perfect shapes. He admired her then snapped back into the spin, blasting the stupid look off the face of a raider that thought he'd got the drop on him. _Well if travelling with this girl was going to be like this I'm in for one hell of a ride,_ he thought to himself as he watched her panting, them both surrounded by the dirty bodies of raiders.

_What have I got myself in for?_ was all that passed her mind as the grenade sailed past her head. The fight was all whirling madness and she swore she saw him take a hit of jet midway through. He's either insane or completely brilliant, she thought as she decided to take out the furthest raiders. She had been half tempted to just stand back as the ghoul became a whirlwind of bullets and sharp edges.  
          “You seem to know how to handle yourself sister” he said a great grin on his face as they stood amongst the carnage they had created. She always loved the rush but hated the feeling of guilt after having killed but didn't want to show weakness to her new friend, she didn’t trust him yet. So she smiled at him and said,  
          “You’re not too bad either, though next time let me know before you throw a grenade”  
          “You think that's good you should see what I'm like with the ladies” he winked,  
          “Does that involve you nearly blowing them up too?”  
          “Oh you know it” it threw her a little that he could flirt so seamlessly after killing about 20 people, she supposed everyone dealt with that in their own way. She always worried the guilt would catch up with her one day, but maybe that was still old world thinking.  
          The next week was fun, they hiked further from Goodneighbour every day, swapping stories by night. She made sure to show him some of her favourite spots and he helped her kill some of the more intimidating things out there. It didn't take long for them to fall into a quick and easy routine, backing each other when needed, flirting and swapping smart verbal jabs throughout. Despite her reservations about having a travelling companion she realised she had been lonely, there'd been no one consistent in her life in…. Well in over 200 years. She could easily get used to this.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because really... she just met the guy and he confuses the hell out of her, of course she's going to make sure he knows how to handle himself!


	3. Deathclaw

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Hancock would prefer to sleep inside but sometimes it's just not possible. Harry is exhausted but soon after setting up camp something turns up to get the adrenaline pumping.

          They prefered finding an old building to camp in, it was more secure easier to defend when there was only one entrance, they could set up traps or take turns keeping watch and sleeping. Sometimes they'd be too far from anything and would just have to find an outside spot and make it as safe as possible, at times like that they would be sure to have someone keeping watch. It was like that the night of the deathclaw, there were some nondescript buildings in the far distance, grey and squat at the top of a hill and the leftover rubble of some a little closer everything broken and bent, not a single wall standing, nowhere to stay in there. Hancock looked towards Harry, she was tired after a long day of hiking with very little to break it up. She wondered why they hadn’t come across anything for a while in a place where something usually tried to kill you every five minutes,  
          “Can you make it to those buildings?” he asked, concern playing across his scarred face,  
          “I don’t know,” she really was unsure if her legs would last that long, they felt lead heavy “what if there's nowhere safe once we get there?”  
          “Bed down near here then?” she simply nodded in reply. They found a spot near one of the big pillars that once held the highway, it meant they had shelter from one side if not from the rest. Next step was laying out sleeping bags and making as much of a tent as they could with what they brought or what they found. It usually worked out well because Harry was a hoarder and Hancock seemed to have some strange magic that meant he always had what he needed and at the same time never seemed to have anything to carry. Once set up for the night they sat next to each other relaxing with their backs against the cold concrete their fronts warmed by a small fire, chatting, he'd taken some jet so was talking away about anything and everything at a rate of knots.  
          “Suushhh” Harriette held her hand out, almost touching the ghoul in an attempt to quieten him. She could have sworn she heard something, climbing to a ready crouch she unholstered her choice of weapon (a powerful 10mm pistol), “I think I heard someth… OH SHIT A DEATHCLAW”  
          She quickly grabbed hold of the fabric of Hancock's coat and dragged him to his feet before starting running. They both aimed towards a specific spot in a tumble down house, two walls had fallen in, creating a shape not dissimilar to the triangle of a house of cards. In front the remnants of a doorway, you'd have to crouch to get in and it wouldn't be comfortable once inside but there was a chance it would be small and deep enough to get out of the beasts reach. At first they ran together, side by side, only jet makes you faster and the ghoul was soon outpacing the desperate woman. He made it to the tiny pocket of safety and looked back, it was at that exact moment that the hulking mass of the deathclaw caught up with Harry. She felt a sharp pain across her back and was forced to the floor, she knew this was it, this was how she died, all this way, all this work and she would die anonymously as so many others before her. She refused to give up without a good fight though and staggered to her shaky feet, grabbing her trusty axe ready to face the monster before her. But what she actually saw was Hancock diving past her and luring the thing away, she set off running for the shelter on instinct and sat there waiting, wondering what the hell he was thinking.

          He saw it, all of it, from his safe spot, again the instinct for flight had kicked in and he'd saved his sorry arse. He looked on as, with a simple swipe of it's arm his companion, his friend, was knocked to the ground, blood flying from wounds on her back. _No… no… not again,_ his jet fueled mind said, _I won’t, I can't sit and watch._ He lept up and threw down everything he'd grabbed when they'd run, taking one extra large hit from his inhaler and ran, bent double from the ruins. She was pushing herself to her feet… good, she could run quicker if she was already stood just in case the thing decided to turn around and follow her in the end. He ran directly at the deathclaw praying to any god that might not have already forsaken him, he swerved just before he ran into it and set off in any random direction he could think of. Thankfully Jet really did make you fast and he had the advantage of being small as well as fast, he weaved in and out of trees and rubble but the thing just smashed them out of the way. Then he saw his chance, a window, one lonely window sat alone in a wall that jutted up singularly in the landscape. If he could manage this maybe he could get away, he slowed a little to let the deathclaw think it had nearly caught him before he lept straight through the hole. Perfect, concentrating as it was on being so near to catching him the deathclaw followed him through the gap but no further. The brick and mortar, somehow still standing would not hold it for long, but long enough that he could run away. He didn’t head straight back to where he'd left Harry, then the deathclaw would just track him straight there. If he wound his way around and crossed his own path a few times the thing would hopefully lose interest and find something easier to eat. He worried about what his friend would think with him being gone too long. It was well past midnight by the time he found his way back, she was crying quietly,  
          “Did you miss me? Of course you did” she lept up and wrapped her arms around his crouched form, his shoulder getting damp from her tears, “oh don't worry about me, your favourite Mayor can look after himself”  
          “I…. I…. Didn't know...” she said, he moved his arms to put them around her but felt her tense up and attempt to move away, though there wasn't really anywhere to go in the small space,  
          “Did it hurt you?” Hancock asked even though he knew the answer. She nodded so they both crawled out and she showed him her back,  
          “Oh god” it was a mess, three deep gashes marred her skin, blood was caked around the torn remnants of her vault suit, mud and grit was stuck in amongst the ripped fabric and deep red blood was caked over her back, turning the material a horrific deep red over the blue. He needed to get this cleaned up but they had to get out of there, just in case the deathclaw managed to find them. They needed somewhere secure so he could wipe away the grime and get some stimpaks to it.  
          “Is it really that bad?” came a small, scared voice, he'd never heard her really scared like that, angry yes but not scared,  
          “A bit, good news is we've got plenty of stimpaks, even better news is you're gonna have to take this vault suit off” that earned him a little smack on the arm. He was glad Harry felt well enough to chide him, they had a long walk ahead of them to get to the buildings in the distance.

  
          It turned out that the horizon held a small collection of boring concrete buildings where people had attempted to live a happy life before the bombs fell, the insides were in a mess but the buildings themselves were mostly in one piece She was starting to feel the pain as Hancock moved about the room lighting oil lamps he'd found in the little collection of squat, grey houses. The walk there she had been so tired the pain hadn’t hit, she had needed the adrenaline from the injury just to keep moving along with Hancock’s gentle supporting arm. He noticed her wincing as she adjusted her position on the dirty broken floor and came over to give her some med-x, the needle slipped into her arm, it dulled the pain and gave her a little buzz that made her feel less tense. The lamps made the room fairly bright, a golden soft glow that made the broken bed and splintered floorboards look almost cosy. When Hancock had finished up with the lamps he laid out the sleeping bags together on the floor and helped her to sit. She felt the floorboards move behind her as he sat down with her pack, routing around for purified water, a clean dishrag she'd grabbed a while ago and a handful of stimpaks.  
          “Here” she heard him say and turned a little to see the ghoul holding out a towel, she simply gave him a confused look “to…. you know…. cover yourself, I'll even turn around while you… get ready”  
          “Oh… I didn't think of that” her heart beat faster, she realised she had been dreading this part. It wasn't like he hadn’t fixed her up before, they both got injured from time to time and would help each other but they were always small and in an easier place. The idea of taking her clothes off, him looking at her when she was in such a vulnerable position as this, it made her heart beat faster and her breath come quicker. She grasped the top of her zip and pulled, the sound echoed around the silent room and her heart stopped for a second. Eyes widened and with a lump in her throat she paused to look around but the back of his head gave her no indication to what he was thinking, in all honesty in that moment she wasn’t sure what she wanted him to think. She sighed, releasing a small amount of the tension building up inside her and pulled on the zip shaking as the noise spilled into the silence of the room. Tying the arms at her hips, she covered her front with the towel before undoing her bra, turns out it was shredded holding closed by a couple of threads and a piece of elastic and covered in blood. The stiff cloth ran over her soft skin and sent a little shiver down her back,  
          “You can… em… turn around” she was always so sure of herself but right now she stuttered. The floorboards creaked as he turned, pausing a little too long before he took the rag and water and started to clean the wounds. Every touch made her shiver and squirm as she felt his fingers against her, it was gentle and his skin felt warm around the cold of the rag. Despite the chems she was acutely aware of every sensation, not in control as she shivered with every touch.

          He felt her movements as she pulled down the zip, he had to screw his eyes tightly closed in an attempt not to peek even while every single nerve of his being told him to turn around. The noise stopped and he felt her turn to look at him, probably making sure he kept his promise. Then she resumed, he could hear every move, every breath she made, he heard a little gasp which wouldn't have been loud enough were the room not silent,  
          “You can…. Em… turn around” she said, what was behind that stutter, the nerves must be getting the better of her. He turned, the wood beneath him sounding as he did. Oh god, she was so soft, her skin so pale, he could see the fine hairs against her flesh standing up. She was beautiful, even luminescent despite the great red slashes across her the deathclaw had left her with, he couldn’t move his eyes from the smooth curve of her back. He'd been staring too long, she must have noticed, he didn’t know how long he'd let his mind wander as he looked at her. He grabbed the cloth and poured water on it, trying to gently rub it against her skin without touching her with his, it didn't work. Each time he slipped and his flesh met hers he felt himself losing control, his skin was always a bit numb from the drugs and the radiation burns but he could still feel the smooth touch of her cool skin against his causing his animal instincts to shout louder. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation, she started squirming under his touch, maybe he was being a bit rougher than he meant to. God what was it with this woman, it's not like he hadn’t had plenty of lovers before, he'd never had problems with getting girls, and the odd guy too. But this one, she drove him mad and it can't just be because she's not interested, he was used to chasing yet every time he closed his eyes he thought of her. She was so soft and at the same time so tough, the old world living had made her delicate and pale and the wastes had made her strong and supple. She was still squirming every time a finger slipped to touch her skin, he couldn't take much more of this, he didn’t dare picture her squirming for other reasons,  
          “If you don't stop wriggling about like that I'll do something you'll regret” he said hoping it would come across as his usual flirting and nothing more but he worried that the wobble in his voice might have given him away. The stimpaks did the trick, helping the wounds to heal before his eyes. There'd still be a nasty mark for some time but it didn’t Mar the beauty of her skin or the perfect curve of her back, an image he wanted to keep in his mind forever. He longed to touch her again, but now there was no excuse anymore. She seemed tense, her breathing heavy, goosebumps forming on her skin, he felt the same, if they sat in silence much longer he'd explode. An idea hit him, he reached in the bag beside him,  
          “My turn now” he quipped and she turned round to see his shirt open and him holding a bottle of lotion with a grin. The way her smile lit up her whole face as she laughed at him made him realise just how amazing she was,  
          “Oh Hancock, never change.”

          She tried to persuade him to sleep, it was daylight by the time she was fixed and fully clothed (well minus a shredded bra). He'd insisted she slept first, he would probably let her sleep through the day, catching only a couple of hours whilst she ate and dressed. She hated watching him sleep, her concern for him made her look away as he moved restlessly in a cruel mimicry of slumber. She was never surprised when he told her he didn't want to sleep much, she wouldn’t either if she danced around like that. She eventually fell asleep staring at his still form in the window, feeling safer for having him there. The next morning she knew they would move on, ending up god knows where, she missed the old life sometimes, the home and the peace. Other times she thought she would miss this place, this world if she were there. She would definitely miss the people and the freedom, in the old world Hancock would be labeled a freak and she would be given dirty looks for letting a man share her room. She liked having him close even when she slept though, she…. Liked it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Harry is starting to trust Hancock and like having him around and Hancock is definitely liking something... next chapter we'll ramp up the sexual tension a bit and see what happens!


	4. Wanna Go Exploring?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has itchy feet, they've been at Oberland Station too long and it feels like Hancock is ignoring her. She decides she's going to leave with or without her favorite traveling companion, when she goes to tell him he isn't in his room but she hears a noise from the bathroom next door...
> 
> ramping up the smut a bit with this chapter because mmmm Hancock

          They had been at Oberland Station too long, she could feel her feet itching to go. When they had got there the place was not much more than a patch of earth and an old signal box. There were two settlers growing a few tatoes behind a ragged fence and cooking on an old campfire every night. She had seen the potential in the place right away, it was a nice secluded space with views of the river and plenty of room to grow more. Now, after over two months there the settlment was growing enough food to feed everyone and sell some, they'd set up a few stalls and a stand for traders to come through. She'd even managed to trap a few bramin, enough for the settlers to start up a breeding program. It was all pretty much done, ready to be left to it's own devices. The other thing was Hancock, she didn't know if he was actively avoiding her or just didn’t have time but she never seemed to see him. At first they would go out scavenging for things to help with building or hunting for food together. As the population in the little farm grew they would sometimes take out a group, then it would be separate groups, then never doing anything together at all. At night they would all gather at the same big campfire and swap tales and sing, it felt good to have a warming meal and Harriette even sang sometimes (after a few swigs of something anyway). Hancock would always be somewhere else, with someone else, usually sharing chems and going on some mad diatribes about politics. She would watch him as he animatedly told a story she couldn't hear and felt like she'd lost a friend. That was why she decided to move on, with or without him, that very night she marched into his room,  
          “Wanna go exploring?” she barked to an empty room. Pausing to think where she might find him this time of night she heard noises from the room next door, the bathroom.  
          They shared a shack with three other people and there was one bathroom in which she had rigged up hot water. It took hours to boil in a huge tank outside before being pumped into the shack. Baths were rare since they took a lot of effort but god damn it felt good to have a soak. It might not be him, she thought to herself then again it might, should I look, just for a second? She carefully tiptoed towards a gap between two boards, only small but enough that she could see movement through it when she stood nearby. _Do I dare?_ she leaned in pressing her face to the rough wood and saw Hancock stood by the bath in his shirt and trousers, the rest in a pile by the door. Her breath hitched, she tried to move away but couldn’t, was she really doing this? _I can just watch a moment longer_ she thought. She felt naughty watching him and got a thrill from the feeling, excitement twisting something in her chest. He had his back to her and she gasped to see him shrug off his shirt with a simple flex of his wiry back muscles. She was transfixed by the wickerwork of scars that played across his taut skin, he was skinny but still muscled and his scars danced patterns across the lean flesh. She could feel her heart pounding and had to urge out each breath in a gentle exhale lest she begin panting and he hear her. She almost lost what little control she had of her breathing when he undid his button fly quickly with deft fingers and she felt an electric shock down her spine. The baggy fabric fell to the floor revealing nothing underneath but more burnt flesh, the small of his back, his… wow… his perfect, pert backside. Harry gets the desperate urge to bite the firm flesh, feel her teeth running along the ridges of his rough skin. He turned towards the bath and she could see him in profile, his chest hypnotic moving up and down, up and down, his stomach flat and tense. She pictured herself running her hand along his stomach, gently, as if by accident touching his…. _Oh no…. Don't think of that, whatever you do,_ she could feel her lungs burning at the urge to simply pant and a lump of gleeful nerves had lodged itself in her stomach. He lowered himself into the water with a sigh and her eyes widened  
           “you can always come join me you know” he said, oh god, oh god, oh god, she spun around on the spot and took off running, only once outside did she allow herself to think, maybe he didn't know it was me, oh please please let him not know.

           He really couldn't enjoy this bath now, he was so tense he had to have another hit of something, of anything. Had it all been a drug fueled dream, had she really been… he'd never even…. She can't, it can't be real. He'd been so close to… doing something, what he didn't know, but right now his pulse was racing and his head felt light, as she'd watched he was reveling in every moment of it. He'd turned to show her more, willing the moment to never end and spent the whole time begging his cock not to get hard, that would have totally given the game away. Maybe if she was watching, then… maybe… could he take the chance that maybe she saw him as… more than a friend. _Ok Hancock play it cool,_  
           “you can always come and join me you know” he heard a gasp, quick footsteps and the front door slam. _Shit… oh god so much shit_. What if she had been watching in horror, curious about what a ghoul looks like naked but repulsed by what she saw?  
          Two hours later and she wasn't back, he was pacing his room worrying, kept chugging mentats, desperately trying to think of what to do. Three hours, still nothing, has she left without him? He'd been distancing himself because of the way he felt, she was a drug like no other and he didn't exactly have a good track record with drugs. Truth is he didn’t trust himself around her, not when there were people around. Don't get the wrong end of the stick he was a drug addict and a womaniser but not a rapist, he could control himself that much and knew he had to since there was no chance she would reciprocate. No it wasn’t that, he just couldn't keep his eyes off her, like every move was poetry, he could quite happily take Jet and sit for a whole afternoon watching every little thing she did in slow motion. He knew with this many people around someone would notice, that it would get back to her and ruin his chance to spend time with her. God all he wanted ever was to spend time with her, so he kept distant so she wouldn’t know and when that wasn’t possible he got high enough to not see her, or sometimes anything more than a foot in front of him. It was living hell and good lord it was exquisite and now he'd ruined it all by saying something stupid at the wrong time and she'd run off without him. What if she had come across a deathclaw or something else she couldn't handle alone. What if his best friend and favorite addiction was outside somewhere bleeding to death all alone. God he had to get out there, find her, save her from all her monsters.  
          That's when he heard the latch on the door, he stood stock Still and silent, heard her distinctive sigh and felt his shoulders sag in relief. The door moved on her bedroom and the springs in her mattress sounded as she laid down. He didn’t want to let her know he'd waited up for her, she was so perceptive and would catch on if he moved. He stood there for about 30 minutes until he was sure he could hear gentle snoring.

          The next morning he acted like nothing had happened, mostly staying out of her way, Harry started to wonder if she'd dreamt the whole thing. Well it didn’t matter, she'd decided to leave despite thinking he would want to stay and once she had made up her mind that was it. She was sad about the idea of losing him but honestly all these feelings she couldn't understand were complications she could do without. She saw him across the farm, holding a group of settlers enthralled as he told a highly animated story. It made her smile as he ran up and down waving his arms around and pretending he had a sword in his hand. She loved the way he got so pulled into every story he told, everyone else seemed to love it too.  
          She had to pick the right moment to tell him she was leaving but Hancock was almost never alone these days. His charisma meant he was always surrounded by people, waiting to see what he'd do next, the chems he easily handed out probably helped too. The more she watched him the more she felt butterflies fill her and the more she was sure that this couldn't carry on. Finally, as the sun set behind the tree line, she spotted him stood alone by the bramin, he was even talking animatedly to them. With a deep breath she marched towards him,  
          “Wanna go exploring?” she asked, she had meant to tell him she was going, that she had to leave and he should stay there but at the last moment she couldn't form the words in her mouth, she couldn't make herself remove this man from her life.  
          “I thought you liked it here?” he asked in a shocked voice  
          “I do, I just… I need to keep moving, I don't want to let myself get comfortable”  
          “yea, I definitely understand that one, let me pack up some stuff and we can head off”  
          “you're coming then?”  
          “you don't get rid of me that easy” with that he gave her a cheeky wink  
          “we can have one last night in a comfortable bed if you like… head off in the morning”  
          “so, tomorrow?”  
          “tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a short one this time but I didn't feel like anything needed adding. I had a fair bit of trouble writing the bathroom scene, it was hard to get across just how nervous and excited Harry is by this whole situation, I think I did ok in the end.
> 
> I feel a bit like I'm watching these two fall for each other but god damit they have so much baggage in the way, which is admittedly mostly because I wanted to drag the sexual tension out longer.
> 
> There will be proper smut I promise, you just have to wait a bit.


	5. Great First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hancock finally manages to get Harry to relax a bit, she's been tense and a little off since they left Oberland Station and he's worried about her but a bit of dancing should do the trick. They're interrupted though by an emergency broadcast and Hancock is fuming when a tall, handsome soldier falls into their life and threatens to take Harry away for good.

          They'd been travelling again for a while now, the map on her pip boy told her they were in the outskirts of the old city of Boston, not too far from the university where they'd found a spot of somewhat intact buildings full of ghouls. After they'd left Oberland Station she'd worried they might have lost their edge in all the relative comfort but they still fought like ever. It was like a dance, they would be spinning back to back sending out a hail of bullets then breaking off to mêlée the ferals, throwing stimpaks, ammo and things to each other with perfect precision. That side of their relationship was perfect and soon the ferals were taken care of, but the easy banter was all but gone. She'd tried but every time she spoke she would stutter and stumble over her words, she felt like a teenager with a crush. He must have noticed something wrong and he would occasionally glance at her, a concerned look on his face for a second before being replaced by the usual mask.  
          They came across an old diner sat alone in the crumbling street, its's curved roof ands sides open onto benches set in the concrete around. It reminded her of the place she used to go as a young woman when she would sneak away from her family, it had the usual crumbling aesthetic of everything out here but she could easily picture it's shining heyday. She immediately ran in, swiftly taking out a feral that had escaped the original fight,  
          “HANCOCK” she shouted and waited for him to appear in the doorway “I used to come to a place like this as a teen, we had pop and would dance to an old jukebox… I wonder if there’s one here?”  
          “I'll go look” Hancock said, disappearing around a corner, leaving her there for a while as she tapped her feet to songs that ended centuries ago, “FOUND IT”  
          She went careening around the corner to where the ghoul was stood on a small dance floor of black and white tiles with surprisingly little rubble and debris  
          “oh it looks just like the one at the diner I went to” she leaned to look inside, “even the records are the same”  
          “I'll see if I can get it working, just hope there's some sort of power” there was a soft click from the machine “there, I'll put something on,”  
          “ohh ohh put on atom bomb baby” she said, bouncing up and down like a child  
          “care to dance?” Hancock said, bowing flamboyantly and holding his hand out to her, as she heard the first chords of the fast, fun filled number she took his hand. He immediately pulled it above her into a spin before grabbing her waist and dipping her to the floor her hair, out of it's usual bun, gently brushed the dusty old tiles before he pulled her back up to face him. He really was an incredible dancer, leading her around the floor, dipping and spinning. She was out of breath and laughing as they came to a showstopping finish, he easily lifted her so her knees were on his chest, his arms crossed under her bum and her head nearly touching the ceiling. They must have made quite a sight, silhouetted against the golds and pinks of the setting sun outside the big windows, he gently lowered her so that she was facing him, his arms wrapped around her at the waist,  
          “thank you I needed that” she said a little breathlessly  
          “I know, it's been like you've had something up your butt since Oberland Station” she grinned, how was he always so right? The jukebox clicked and the soft tones of a slow number began, she tried to pull herself away but he held her fast, in fact he pulled her a little closer,  
          “relax” he whispered into her ear, she decided to go with it, it felt nice him holding her at the waist and as he slipped his hand into hers he pulled her into a great sweeping circle. They held together, her with one hand on his shoulder as they swayed together, every now and then he would pull her into another sweep and press on the small of her back to bring their bodies against each other. She felt dizzy and wasn't sure if it was the spinning or being so near to him as the room lit up with the last golden glows of the sun blanketing the two of them in soft light. She didn’t really notice at first when he let go of her hand and pressed his rough fingers to her chin, he pulled her face up so that they were perfectly eye to eye. His black eyes were sparkling in the dying light, like the stars where capture there and she knew hers would be too, he pulled her face closer to his and brought down his eyelids with a soft little sigh.  
          Her pip boy made an almighty noise, snapping them both out of the moment, he let go of her with almost embarrassment at what they were doing. Her heart sank as he walked a little distance away, his back to her and clearly tensing up. It was a distress call going out to any available radio, she listened to it, the coordinates weren’t far from here. Hancock turned towards her, a look of anger playing across his scarred face,  
          “can't this wait?” he said, understandably irritated  
          “someone's in real trouble, we can't leave them”  
          “you're right… god” he cursed, probably directed at the world in general.

          That fucking pip boy, if it had just been a second later. But really he couldn’t believe what had almost happened, he loved her and that was a firm fact, it was one of the few things he KNEW at this point, everything else in his life was pretty much up in the air. The other thing was that she was far far too good for him, he was a junkie and a ghoul, she was the commonwealth's sweetheart everyone loved her and all he could give her was love. He had almost let himself get caught up in the moment, looking at the way her eyes sparkled as they looked straight into his his heart had jumped and he'd wanted to, had almost kissed her, when the moment had passed and she rejected him everything would have been ruined. He couldn't take the chance that he’d never see her again, it was too much to lose. So really the pip boy had saved him from making the biggest mistake of his life, still he felt angry and irritable as they set off through the mess of broken buildings towards the distress signal.  
          His mood didn’t get any better when he saw the brotherhood of steel symbols on the defenses set up around an old police station. She seemed unaware that it was the brotherhood, maybe she hadn't had any dealings with them (lucky) or maybe she didn't care that she was saving a bunch of angry, racist, psychopaths that would happily kill him if they got the chance. Was she so good that she would just help anyone in need or did she just care for him so little that she’d drag him into a mess with the brotherhood. He hoped she didn't know, that she didn't recognize the symbols, either way he joined her in the fight, better to go down in a hail of laser fire, the woman you love at your side right?

          It was carnage, feral ghouls clambered over the bodies of their fallen brothers in an attempt to get to the steps of a heavily fortified police building. She shot her way through, her ghoul at her side and stood by the man in a power armor suit. He seemed to be desperately holding them off an injured man and the girl trying to tend to him. The fight was madness, they just didn't stop coming, her first gun ran out of bullets, she threw it away and pulled out another. By the time her second gun ran out the herd of ferals had begun to thin out, she grabbed another firearm from one of the easy reach pockets she'd had sewn into her pack and picked off the last few. They waited, she sat on a wall catching her breath almost sure another wave would come, Hancock stood protectively by her side. And they waited, when it seemed no more ferals were coming the handsome stranger (and god was he handsome) walked towards her. He was tall, must have been over 6 foot at least without the power armor giving him more height, she had to stand on a step to have any chance of being eye level. His face was rugged, small scars all over and the beginnings of a dark beard growing on his strong jaw. She would have swooned for a man like this before the bombs, in fact he was somewhat reminiscent of Nate, her late husband. The main difference being Nate always smiled when he looked at her and this tall, dark stranger looked like his frown was permanent,  
          “who are you and what business do you have here?” he asked in a deep, booming, but most of all angry voice  
          “I could easily ask you the same thing” Harry snapped back he'd immediately rubbed her up the wrong way, she could spot a soldier who took his job too seriously and she wasn't about to take any shit from him,  
          “I'll ask the questions here, since you brought that scum” he gestured towards Hancock “into my barracks you can hardly blame me for being suspicious”  
          “the only scum here is wearing tin foil” Hancock spat back at him, Harry made to step between them before Hancock picked a fight he could not win,  
          “NO ONE is scum, we heard your distress call and came to help, that's all” the man seemed to think this through before relaxing (very little) and speaking in a softer voice,  
          “I am Paladin Danse of the brotherhood of steel and these are what is left of my unit. I thank you for the assistance”  
          “oh I've heard of you guys, not much though. By the way I'm Harriette and this is Hancock, I'm pleased to meet you” she heard the ghoul mutter pleased in a sarcastic tone behind her but ignored him and carried on “can I ask some questions about the brotherhood?”  
          “I am not at liberty to release information about our mission” he pointedly looked over her shoulder at Hancock, who was standing with every muscle tensed, when he said this.  
          “oh god, nothing like that, it's just some basic questions about the brotherhood and what you're all about” Danse agreed and they sat and talked for at least an hour, swapping stories and laughing together. Hancock hung around just far away enough that he could still hear them on edge with a look of hate and discomfort on his face. Danse finally told her about the troubles they'd been having on the current mission, he told her that they needed something to improve their transmitter from a factory not far from the station. He asked for her help, she could feel Hancock tense even more at the idea of her helping him,  
          “you're not bringing that thing with us though, I wouldn't feel safe with him around” danse snapped, looking at Hancock as though he could turn feral at a moment's notice. Hancock grabbed her arm and pulled her aside, far enough away that the soldier couldn't hear him,  
          “is this it? You're leaving? A pretty boy soldier turns up and I’m last weeks news? You can't seriously want to go with him can you?” he said incredulously  
          “they need my help, you can't want me to leave them here to die?”  
          “I don’t trust him, I don't want you to risk your own life for theirs”  
          “don’t be so dramatic, you know I can look after myself”  
          “and if you get into trouble out there and his mission is more important to him then you are?”  
          “in that case I'll get myself out of trouble, what's really wrong, you've never been afraid of a little danger before”  
          “I won't be there, I won’t be able to help you, I can't…. I can't lose you and never know what really happened…. I just…. I can't lose you… I….”  
          “you won't lose me, don't worry so much. You stay here and wait for me" he scoffed at her "please wait, just, lay off the chems a bit… or find a quiet spot if you have to, these guys are jumpy enough without you being off your face around them”  
          “I don’t like it, I don't trust him” Hancock gave up on persuading her not to go and left with a grumpy look on his face.  
          Danse stood waiting for an answer and looked angry as Hancock strode past him towards the door to the station.  
          “Hancock is staying here, he can keep an eye on this place whilst we're gone. When do we set off?”  
          “We set off at sunrise, get whatever you need from inside and try to catch some sleep. I will have you know I do not approve of a ghoul in my barracks and will hold you responsible for any damage done” she had no idea what he thought might happen, a rave perhaps?  
          First light came and Hancock didn’t, she had hoped he would say goodbye but he barely spoke to her the night before and just disappeared when she tried to get him to open up. He had probably found a quiet spot away from everyone else and got high enough to ignore where he was. She guessed it’s asking a lot to want him to hang around with the brotherhood when they were everything he stood against and vice versa, still, she had hoped he would be here to see them off. Danse had been up for an hour already, his power armor gleaming (does he ever take that thing off?) in the first rays of morning light.  
          “let’s move out and try to keep up” he said running through the gate, he paused at the mouth of an alley “we can take this alley and head up along this road, it’s a bit of a trek but we should easily make it”  
          He was right, they did make it with nothing bothering them but a pack of dogs and some raiders along the way and then they stood outside the imposing concrete building. Danse was the first one to head inside, Harry just followed him running as fast as she could until they came across a room full of battered robots, it was obvious someone had been there,  
          “looks like synths got here before us” Danse said as he knelt clumsily beside 50% of a robot  
          “what makes you say that?"  
          “Look around you, no spent shell casings, not a single shot out of place, these robots were taken down with precision and that says institute to me” she agreed and they moved on down corridors and up stairs in this half tumble down building. Eventually they got to a room with a locked door and massive computers around the room, Danse directed her to figure out a way through the door whilst he kept a lookout. Harry wasn’t used to working like this, she never needed orders from Hancock or to give him any, they just naturally worked, she felt a pang of regret at leaving him behind. She took a look at the computer screen directly in front of the doors, locked and really well, she'd have better chance at finding the password than guessing it. She searched the room from top to bottom, taking anything that she thought might come in handy somewhere down the road. After a while searching she finally found the password and that’s when she met her first institute synths. They came spilling through the open doors looking like some machine made attempt at a man, all wires and metal bits with creepy, almost human eyes. They sent a horrid shiver down Harriette's back and she was all too happy to kill them off, that was until a pretty strong one cornered her. She had thrown grenades at it and shot it but it would not go down, now she had her trusty axe and kept hacking at it but nothing. Out of nowhere it’s head exploded in a flash of red light, she turned to see Danse there holding his laser pistol in her direction,  
          “easier if you aim for the eyes, they creep me out anyway” he said to her dismissively, with a shrug  
          “OH GOD OH GOD... THANK YOU” she ran to him about to hug him when she realized there was no chance with him in that power armor, instead she sort of pulled up next to him and stopped awkwardly at his side. The rest of the “mission” as Danse called it went ok, they stayed close as much they could, well apart from the bit where he nearly baked from some old exhaust thing but his power armor saved him really gotta get me some of that Harry thought. they left the building in a lift that hadn’t been working before and she breathed a sigh of relief to see the sky again, it was showing all the colors of sunset, had they really been gone that long? It didn’t feel like it but she supposed they must have, Hancock would be worried,  
          “You did well in there, it’s rare to meet a civilian who can follow orders” Danse said, pulling her out of her little bubble,  
          “well thanks, I guess” she replied, unsure if it was really a compliment or not  
          “I’d like to invite you to join the brotherhood, no more mercenary missions, you’d be The real deal. Only you’d have to get rid of that ghoul who follows you around” He really was handsome, Harriette found herself looking at his face and thinking she could really make a go of this, join the brotherhood, spend more time with him. Then he goes and says something like that about Hancock and she remembers who she's really dealing with.  
          “I don’t know, and Hancock doesn’t just follow me around, he’s my friend and he’s saved my life more times than I can count” she scolded the soldier  
          “well think hard about it, this is a rare opportunity to be part of something really big” He honestly seemed to wholeheartedly believe in the brotherhood, devotion like that is infectious and she felt herself almost agreeing with him. The looks didn’t hurt of course. When she didn’t reply he said “Let’s head back, I’m sure your monster is waiting for you” she sighed and followed him.

          He'd found his way down to the basement of the station, it was quiet there and he didn't have to look at the disgust on their faces. His head was hurting, he wasn’t used to feeling this many emotions, dulling them with chems more often than not. He could feel the fire of rage in his veins,  
          "how could she go with him?" he mumbled to himself, so mad at her. Jealousy clouded his judgement too  
          "of course she did, that perfect soldier is everything I'm not" he muttered under his breath to the room  
          "she should go, I hope I never see her again the fucking bitch" but the hardest thing to bear was the worry, he couldn’t stop his mind from filling with images of her bleeding, alone, abandoned and he couldn’t do anything "what if I never see her again."  
          He slouched in a corner, heavy with the weight of emotions he couldn’t manage. He felt the jet canister and the med-x in his pocket, he said he'd wait but he hadn’t promised to be conscious whilst he waited. He felt the needle in his arm and popped a handful of mentats in his mouth before he pressed down the syringes plunger, he felt the numbness swim through him and grabbed the inhaler. As he sucked down the acrid smoke he felt the world slow and gradually fell into the blackness of drug induced sleep.  
          He woke, no idea of the time or where he was, his head was swimming, clouds slowly dispersing what the hell did I take? He couldn't focus, couldn’t grab onto memories that danced just in front of his conscious mind. Then it hit him… Harry! He'd felt so angry at her, at everything, he'd taken all he had left of his stash and passed out. God how could he do that? How long had he been out? He was sure if she was back she would have found him, he hadn't exactly tried to hide much. Maybe she didn't care enough to find him, maybe that fucking soldier had got into her head. No, his Harry wasn’t that easy to sway… she can't have got back, but he must have been passed out for hours after taking all that shit.  
          He stumbled upstairs, the boarded windows showed little light, it must have been late, had he slept all day? He pushed his way through the heavy door ignoring the shouts from the two brotherhood dicks still there. Outside the sun was sinking in the sky and the clouds were taking on a pinkish tone, she wasn’t back yet, she'd been gone all day. His worry grew through the smog of chems, he started to pace up and down at the top of the stairs. He watched as the sky grew pinker and the light faded, he paced as what little light was left faded to nothing, he fretted as the night crept in. Then finally he heard the tromp of power armour feet hitting the ground, they rounded the corner and all the horrible things he pictured in his head vanished at the sight of her. He felt his grin growing, seeing only her as she ran towards him, arms outstretched. He caught her as she jumped into a bear hug (or as close as his skinny form could manage) he inhaled her scent, it was a wonderful musk with the hint of flowers and shot straight through his fuzzy mind like lightning through clouds.  
          “good to see you didn’t get eaten” he said “I’ve had the most wonderful day”  
          “I know you’re being sarcastic but so have I and now I really want a glass of something with a percentage, a cigarette and to tell you all about it, come on” she grabbed his arm sending a shiver down his spine and pulled him towards the door but Danse stopped them  
          “there’s no alcohol in there, this is a barracks” he said standing in front of the duo not noticing the irony in his words (Harry knew soldiers, wherever they went alcohol would be)  
          “well then it’s a good job I’ve got some on me” said Hancock, pulling a full bottle of rum from his coat, he always had a spare bottle of something hidden somewhere, even if it was foul,  
          “you’re not drinking it here, you’ll have to go and I think you’ll be going alone” said Danse, the words took a moment to sink in but Hancock soon felt a stabbing pain as he realized what the soldier meant. Everything stopped for a second, he couldn't take in the idea that what he feared had really happened, yes she was safe but she was not his,  
          “you’re staying here?” Hancock asked, the pain must have been obvious on his face beneath the scars because he could see his emotions mirrored in hers,  
          “no it’s not like that, I hadn’t decided and Danse Had no right to tell you like that” she cast a sidelong glance at the tall handsome figure stood beside her, the anger burning hot in her eyes  
          “I guess you’ve made up your mind, off with pretty boy? I’d like to see how good you are without all that power armour on”  
          “trust me freak you wouldn’t”  
          “will you two cut it out, if this is how the brotherhood acts I’d rather not be part of it. come on John” she took his arm again and started to pull him away, he couldn't take his eyes off Danse, he'd won, she wasn't making him go, they were leaving together,  
          “keep away from me you filthy ghoul” Danse said to their backs as the two of them walked away  
          “Don’t worry bout it crew cut, you’re not my type” Hancock shouted over his shoulder, always having to get the last word in, it was really just a wittier version of sticking his tongue out at him but he couldn't help himself, he was bitter.

          They sat in the upper room of a half destroyed building, after setting up traps and oil lamps all around she felt comfortable enough to drink. He sat opposite her on the floor, mucky sleeping bags laid below them,  
          “I'm proud of you” she said to the ghoul who looked up at her like the stars were in her eyes, “you didn’t lose your cool and stab anyone”  
          “believe me sweetheart I came close, but even I can't stab through power armor”  
          "He really was a dick to you, but he isn't that bad really. He saved my life, there were synths and they almost overpowered me…” her voice trailed off  
          “synths? You had to deal with synths?”  
          “yea, they were horrible, like a computer had tried to make a person, all wires and metal”  
          “have you met nick valentine?”  
          “yea, but they were nothing like him, he's kind and smart, they had robotic voices and almost human eyes, it was creepy”  
          “I like nick, he's a good guy, comes round and bugs the people of Goodneighbour sometimes”  
          “he's nice, helped me try to find…. Shawn… my son” did he know she had lost her son? She couldn't remember if she'd told him before  
          “do you want to talk about it?”  
          “not really, not now anyway” she suspected the question would have been the same Whether he knew or not. He laid back, propping himself up against the wall and took out his jet inhaler, she watched as he took a deep breath then blew out the thick smoke, he sighed  
          “what's that like?” she asked, gesturing at the plastic in his hand  
          “well… it’s hard to explain, everything slows down and… well… it's a trip”  
          “can I try some time?”  
          “sure, not here though, somewhere safer” he seemed to worry about her so much,  
          “yea, some time later” her eyelids started to droop as sleep worked it's way in, she'd been awake for about 32 hours now. She heard a zip and felt Hancock's hand guiding her into the sleeping bag, she felt drunk and warm and happy and for the first time she could remember, safe. As sleep finally took her the last image she saw was Hancock's face and her dreams were filled with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are hotting up a bit!
> 
> This ended up being a pretty long one but they always do when introducing a new character, Danse is a softy and he's actually the first companion I romanced in game so I do love him really... he just comes across as a dick at first and obviously Hancock was destined to hate him.
> 
> I'm hoping to go on introducing the other companions and creating working on their characters, some will slip in and out of their lives pretty quickly and some will stay close but I want to get them all in there.


	6. Jet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry tries jet for the first time and her reaction is priceless, Hancock's just enjoying watching the joy and curiosity with which she sees the world in a new way. He pulls her in for a hug and when she gets sleepy it's hard to resist her offer of snuggling up on the sofa.
> 
> The next morning Hancock is in for a bit of a surprise... and not an unpleasant one!

          “hey” she said as she sashayed towards him, god he loved the way she moved, the twist of her hips. You have to get a grip man, you have no chance with her, she's the sweetheart of the whole fucking commonwealth why would she care about you? They had been clearing old houses for anything useful, he hated this, but somehow loved the fact that it meant spending time with her.  
          “guess what I've got” and as she said it he realized she was hiding something behind her back. Oh no, not another toy “I found Jangles the space monkey”  
          “is that a good thing?” he knew she collected things, usually to break up for the settlements. She'd only recently let him in on the secret of her toy collection, at first he thought she meant his kind of toys, the mental images alone! But no, she seemed to collect any toys she found about the commonwealth, he shouldn't judge, she was looking for a son.  
          He popped a mentat to keep up his mellow high, then remembered something Harry had said recently,  
          “hey Harry, wanna head back to Goodneighbour?”  
          “yea, not like it's far, why?  
          “well you mentioned you wanted to try Jet the other day, still want to?”  
          “course! You'll look after me won't you?”  
          “always” he kinda loved the way she could take down a hulking supermutant three times her size without blinking but she still looked nervous about the idea of chems. This wonderful woman in front of him would always be capable of surprising him, she was always full of contradictions.  
On the way from there to Goodneighbour very little got in their way, they mostly chatted and he mostly stared at her face when she wasn’t looking. The second they got through the gate people crowded round them, surprised to see their Mayor back and wanting to hear stories of their adventures. Goodneighbour was like a professional rumor mill, everyone wanted to know everyone else's business and news always traveled fast. Hancock had always used this to his advantage, being sure to control what was being said and make sure he was the first to know. Harry had never been like that, her honesty was sometimes brutal and she would tell everyone there about her travels, not caring for what they thought. He was always baffled that they loved her all the more for it, mind you not that baffled, it was one of the things he loved about her.  
          Upstairs in the statehouse she immediately threw off all her weapons and her pack and flopped down exhausted on the big, soft sofa with a satisfied sigh. He took her lead and sat across from her, watching her wriggling about to find the optimum spot for comfort,  
          “Wanna go out for a drink?” he asked her, thinking that the third rail would be quiet and a nice spot this time of day,  
          “not really, can't we just stay here?” honestly she did look comfortable so he was loathe to make her move,  
          “ok, want a drink anyway?”  
          “oh hell yea!” she exclaimed, he stood and made his way to a cabinet at the side of the room that he'd made sure was always full of high percentages. He poured them both a glass of…. something, it was brown and smelt distinctly of coffee and alcohol so it would do. Harry took a sip and pulled a face,  
          “god I miss the whiskey I used to drink, if I'd have known I'd never have it again I'd have had a cheeky glass or two after having Shaun but I gave it up when I got pregnant”  
          “well, this isn't exactly the commonwealth's best, I'm sure I can find something you like”  
          “I like this fine! Just… one of the things I miss from the old world. Ohh speaking of which I'm gonna go put something more comfortable on” god, sometimes this amazing woman had no idea what she was saying, Hancock couldn't help his mind wandering to lace and silk barely covering her body. He could picture the sleek fabric running over the soft curves of her, running his hands along her legs…. He needed to stop thinking like this, mind you he could get Daisy to keep an eye out for something, just in case. She came back through wearing a simple cotton dress, buttons down the front and tighter at the waist, it skimmed her frame in a way that made Hancock crazy. He wondered if this was how she dressed…. Before, he could almost picture it if he really tried but he didn't really know what before would have been like, not really. She landed heavily on the sofa next to him and he had to stop himself from reaching up to touch her knee,  
          “you ready?” he said, holding up two Jet inhalers and giving her his best winning smile, she always told him he looked like he was thinking rude things when he smiled like that, truthfully he probably was. She reached out and took one, gently running her fingers over the smooth plastic,  
          “so, I press here and suck here?” she asked, pointing at parts of the device  
          “god woman! You always set me up for dirty jokes” she looked confused for second and then her eyes widened in realisation,  
          “oh no… I didn't mean…. Sorry”  
          “hahahaha don't be sorry, we're like a double act, you set em up I knock em down! All that aside, yea, you press here and _inhale_ here” he pointed to the same parts she had and made a point of emphasizing the word inhale, “on three?”  
          “ok, on three, you'll make sure I don't do anything too stupid right?”  
          “I thought that was why you kept me around most of the time? Don't worry, I'll look after you, ready?” she nodded a little nervously “one…. Two… three”  
          They both inhaled the sickly, acrid smoke. Hancock had grown accustomed to the feeling, he didn’t know if it felt as good anymore but he could remember the first time even though it was so long ago. He sat back, a serene smile on his face as he watched Harry, he knew that right now the world felt totally new for her. He saw her eyes widen, just staring into space and could almost feel the slowing of time as if it were his first time too. Movement by her thigh, he looked down to see her hand, almost imperceptibly slowly, lifting until it was in front of her face, she turned it this way and that, studying it. Suddenly she snapped upwards and stood, then just as quickly she bent double and looked through the space between her calves. She seemed to be looking under the sofa, from one end to the other, again and again, like watching a really slow tennis match. He laughed, not cruelly but because he knew how it felt, the surprise, the curiosity she felt. She snapped up to standing again and turned to face him, her eyes still wide she seemed to study his features, if he hadn’t been high too this much scrutiny would have made him blush (sort of) and look away. A deep sigh emanated from her lips and at the exact same time she turned and fell back onto the soft cushions of the sofa, it was an effect much like deflating. She looked him deep in the eyes as hers softened,  
          “it's…. It's all…. Lines, like in a comic book… everything is made up of lines… straight lines and curved lines, even wiggly ones, but they're all lines”  
          “I know sister, it should be calming down now….”  
          “is this what your life's like?”  
          “no, it gets less... intense the more you do it. Plus I don't just do jet, I've been at this so long I forgot what sober feels like”  
          “so… if chems are your normal would that mean coming off them would feel like a trip?”  
          “Maybe…. Don't exactly intend to find out anytime soon… c'mere” he put his arm around her for a big bear hug, the feeling of someone being so close when you're that high… well he remembered it being nice but he hadn’t exactly held anyone in a long time, not like this. She yawned against his shoulder and he let her go, “sleepy? Feeling all…. Mellow?”  
          “mmmmmmmm, it's like an adrenaline rush then… just… peace”  
          “yup…. Wanna sleep” her eyes were already closing so he knew the answer. Hancock stood, allowing her to stretch her legs along the full length of the large piece of furniture. Her head lulled, he went to see if he could find something to put over her, maybe a pillow when he returned with both she was asleep. Gently lifting Harriettes head the ghoul took a moment to look at her face as it laid gently in his hand… it felt right, touching her skin like this. Before he got the chance to get too lost in that thought he put the pillow underneath and placed her head gently on top of it, throwing the blanket over her before making to leave the room,  
          “don’t go” came a sleepy little voice, she sounded so small and vulnerable, he looked over as she shuffled as close as she could manage to the back of the chair “there’s room”  
          There wasn't room, he tried to lay in a way that meant he wasn’t too close, too squashed into her but that wasn’t possible. She put her arm around his waist and pulled him in closer  
          “in case you fall” she said before falling immediately into the deepest sleep he'd ever seen. He was so tense about doing something wrong he didn't think he would sleep but actually it wasn't long before he started to drift off, her scent filling his nostrils and his mind.  
          He woke up, his head was pounding but there's nothing unusual there, the room was blurry and he didn't entirely know where he was. As far as he could tell he was laid on his back on the sofa, a woman lay next to him, her legs tangled around his. He was fully clothed, well that's a rarity…. Wait… Harry he'd been with Harry…. Why won't his head work…. She… they…. Jet, they did jet…. Then…. Wait… wait…. The world snapped into focus as a sudden rush of adrenaline hit him. It was Harry, he could feel her soft breathing as she laid next to him, so close he could still smell her, her head resting in the crook of his shoulder. He could feel a soft hand against his chest, it must have worked it's way in there, past his shirt, during the night, her long hair was messily spilt all over him. He sighed, it felt blissful to have his arm wrapped around her, his hand resting gently on her hip and feeling the soft squish of her silky flesh. That was the moment he realized her dress was across the room, in a crumpled pile on the floor. His whole body went stiff, and the ghost of goosebumps stood on his scarred skin. _I have to look… I mean… if I don't look I won't…. I won't know_ , he thought to himself. Ever so gently he lifted the blanket to see the pale body of the woman he loved sleeping next to him. She was still wearing underwear, thank god (or not… part of him wished she wasn’t) but just the sight of her perfectly curved back, the little white hairs that covered her skin. He longed to just reach out and stroke that skin with the tips of his fingers… he longed to do more. She squirmed against him and he froze again, she let out the tiniest, most erotic groan and shifted her weight so that she laid on her side. Even through his clothes he could feel her body against him, hard muscles and soft skin the flesh of her breasts giving way to his chest. He couldn’t take it anymore…. He had to have her or he had to leave, he left, no matter how hard his cock or how much he pictured her lips on his he would never…. Well you know. He staggered, still half drunk and with a throbbing head along the corridors and into the tiny room he called his own, little more than a mattress on the floor of a broom closet (he hardly slept, when he did he was far too out of it to care where, this was good enough for him). When he eventually got up the courage to face her again Harry was dressed, sat comfortably on the sofa with the blanket folded neatly on top of the pillow behind her. She looked up and smiled as he entered the room, she looked so beautiful and so…. Normal…. Like nothing had happened. He supposed to her it hadn't, he on the other hand had never been so frustrated in his life, it was a morning he'd never forget and for her it meant nothing.

          She was somewhat aware of a body next to her, it was slight, firm and really warm. In her sleepy haze her hand gently caressed unrelenting ridges of what was unmistakably scarred skin. _Hancock_ the name entered her mostly still asleep head with a warmth and a softness, she felt safe and happy. The sudden rush of cold onto her body woke her a little more and she squirmed in protest clinging herself closer to the warm body beside her. As she started to become conscious of her surroundings she felt the blanket laid back down and Hancock untangling from her. She opened her eyes just in time to see him running out the door, she wasn’t yet awake enough to think about what it meant but she could still hear him clattering down the hall. After stretching and a yawning Harriette blinked herself back into existence and realised she had taken her dress off in her sleep. Oh god no wonder Hancock had run off like that, she must have been too hot under a blanket with him as her radiator. in the back of her mind she remembered how nice it had felt, being able to hold him like that. It had been so long since she'd trusted someone and even longer since someone had held her as she slept, but she needed to forget it. She had things to do, a dead husband and a son waiting for her, no matter how much she liked the attention she got from Hancock it wasn't more than a distraction… she wouldn’t let it be. After all what was he but a womanizer and a chem addict, he was smart and loyal and cared so much about his world, he was brave and didn’t give in but when it came down to it she would just end up being hooked and he'd have another notch on his bedpost.  
          It was almost an hour before Hancock appeared again, Harry gave him a warm smile hoping he could tell that she meant nothing had changed. He seemed, sad, a little lost for a second but he soon had his winning smile back,  
          “so, what do you want to do today my little chem head?”  
          “not sure I'm quite a chem head yet” she said… not meaning to add the yet  
          “clearly I'm not as bad an influence as I first thought… shame”  
          “you keep working on that”  
          “with pleasure, My influence will probably turn you into a little deviant in no time”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually the first chapter I wrote of this fic inspired by something on Tumblr about the sosu taking chems for the first time (i'd link it but it was so long ago I don't honestly remember what it was) so if it's out of place writing style wise that's why, I tried to edit it a bit to keep it flowing with the rest but that doesn't always work.
> 
> Also introducing the Toy Collection which is what I actually do in game, every game of this type I play I always end up collecting something stupid and useless that wasn't really intended for that purpose (unlike bobbleheads/magazines, I gather all of those too) for Fallout 4 it's Jangles The Space Monkey, Giddyup Buttercup and Vault Tec Lunchboxes... I've got hundreds of them now!


	7. Combat Zone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Cait the little red head scrapper from the Combat Zone. She's suck for somewhere to stay so Hancock and Harry bring her home because they both have a bit of a soft spot for hopeless cases. Though in this case there's a little more behind it, for both of them.

          They went walking out near Goodneighbour Harry had just wanted to explore the area after she realized she'd never really done it always just passing through. Hancock loved the idea, a chance to clear out some of the baddies that were likely to bother his home and do it together, no problem at all. She felt the freedom of being out there, the two of them walking side by side every inch covered in weapons and nothing strong enough to give them any real trouble. Kicking bits of rubble as they walked along, a swagger in both their steps they were two bright colors in a sea of browns and grey. She kicked something and it bounced off wood onto the ground causing a little avalanche, the wood had writing on it and not old. She read it aloud to the ghoul beside her,  
          “Tommy’s rule number one, no fighting outside the cage, Tommy’s rule number two, No caps, no entry, Tommy’s rule number three, no begging, no loitering. This Tommy guy really likes his own name”  
          “Hey, I’ve heard of this place, kept meaning to check it out, that was till I heard it’d ended up full of raiders”  
          “What is it?”  
          “full of raiders” he said with a raised eyebrow, or the place his eyebrow would be  
          “well yea… I mean what's it for”  
          “it’s a fighting ring, people go in to fight, you know like… that thing before the war where people would punch each other”  
          “what?”  
          “you know where two guys would get in a thing and hit each other… I think it involved underwear” Harry scrunched up her face, thinking for a minute,  
          “boxing?”  
          “is that what they called it, did they use weapons, like here?”  
          “no, just fists, though it sounds a bit more fun with weapons”  
          “it does, wanna head in?”  
          “I do like the idea of fighting raiders… let’s go”  
          Inside she had expected to be put in the pit, dare raider upon raider to come and fight her, since they'd be choosing to it would be all the thrill none of the guilt. It didn't work out that way in the end, the two of them were too recognizable, him in his bright red coat and her in her blue vault suit, they just attacked on sight. It was a fairly tough fight too, Hancock, as usual yelled out a war-cry and threw himself at them, his choice of weapon a sword. For a moment she stopped and marveled at him, the tails of his coat flying as he spun and parried and slashed at them. He wasn’t exactly graceful or masterful with the weapon but what he lacked in training he made up for in sheer unstoppability, no matter what they did he just growled and kept on going. After a few seconds she realized he was about to be overrun by the raiders and pulled out her trusty laser rifle, picking off those about to reach the mêlée in front of her, then moving onto those further away. Hancock could easily handle the ones she'd left him with but they just kept coming, more and more running into the hail of laser she spread around him. It felt like hundreds (more likely about 30 or 40) and they just kept appearing from the walls, what was this place, a raider hive or something? She paused to take stock after the worst of them were down, looking around the room to see only three left. A few more rounds off and Hancock and Harriette were stood alone in the middle of a pile of blood soaked bodies panting from the exertion. This was the first chance she'd had to take in the room, it was big and obviously had been a theater before the bombs and it seemed a nice one. The decay had eaten away at the gilding and the velvet but evidence of elegant carved wood and brass still remained, she wished she had seen it at its finest. On a stage where she imagined Shakespeare had been performed way back when was now a big wire cage allowing for viewing without the occupants able to escape. Inside, apart from a dead raider she couldn't entirely remember shooting, was an old ghoul in a bad wig and dirty suit (possibly tommy) cowering behind a woman holding a big axe. It took some moments to distinguish the door from the rest of the cage but when she spotted it Harry grabbed Hancock's hand and dragged him over. They both walked over to the strange pair and as soon as he realized they didn't intend to kill them the ghoul charged towards them,  
          “what are you doing? You just killed all my customers” he said aggressively  
          “hey… they shot first!” was Harry’s indignant response to that  
          “you didn’t have to kill them all… what am I going to do now?”  
          “Maybe get some clients that don't shoot first”  
          “pretty good idea” Hancock said, he caught Harry’s eye and knew she felt guilt about killing them all but couldn't show that to two complete strangers  
          “I've got one hard and fast rule”she said “if someone or something tries to kill you, you try and kill it right back”  
          “they were all a bit… rowdy… for my tastes, maybe now I'll have the chance to turn this place into a respectable establishment. I’m Tommy by the way” said the slightly sleazy looking ghoul “ghoul entrepreneur and this is my… well fighting pit”  
          “so what are you going to do to the place?” Harriette asked  
          “well for starters clear out all the dead bodies. No I think I can turn this place into a decent joint soon enough. Only.... what do I do with her?” he gestured towards the woman, well more like girl, stood behind him. Harry looked at her properly, she was young, maybe 18 or 19 but had eyes full of fierceness and bright red hair to match, she stood in a way that said she was ready to fight anyone and clutched the axe in her hand so hard her knuckles were almost white. She wore a leather vest and tight trousers that showed her toned body just enough to start Harry thinking,  
          “what do ya mean do with me?” she said, an Irish lilt to her voice that Harry hadn't heard in so long. The accent had been common once but now it was rare and a pleasure to the ear,  
          “well you can't stay here” the ghoul said, his voice rasping and angry, a sharp contrast to the lovely tone of the girls, “I don't know why I pay you in anything but chems”  
          “my kinda girl” Hancock piped in, Tommy gave him and Harry a thoughtful look, Cait shot him daggers  
          “I know, you take her” the self titled ghoul entrepreneur said as though it was all decided  
          “I ain't going anywhere with them… especially him, looking at me like that, some sort of pervert” this made Harry chuckle, though she tried to hide it from Hancock  
          “I'm so sorry about Cait’s rudeness, she can be a handful but she's a good fighter”  
          “what exactly are you suggesting?” Harry asked, a little dubious about the whole idea,  
          “You'd take in her contact, she'd work for you, watch your back, that sort of thing”  
          “it sound a bit like slavery to me” Hancock pointed out, Harry agreed with this, she'd have no part in slavery  
          “I don’t want to go with them” Cait piped up, if she was determined then they wouldn't make her  
          “it's them or the street, you aren't staying here. Look kid, you’re a good fighter and you're not a bad person but you're becoming a liability, especially with the chems. I can't have you here if I'm going to be making this place classy”  
          “Hancock, can you find her a bed in the state house? We can get her a job somewhere in Goodneighbour surely?”  
          “yea, there's plenty of rooms could do with clearing out and being used”  
          “well I suppose I have no choice” Cait pouted, then she pointed at Hancock “I'm having no part of what he's thinking about though”  
          “we'll take her back to Goodneighbour” Hancock said “everyone's welcome there, even snarky, little, redhead scrappers”

          Hancock got Fahrenheit to make up a room for Cait, he'd always had a few mattresses up in the roof for any vagrant or drifter stuck for a safe place but that was a come and go kind of arrangement. As in they'd come, sleep a few nights then go, hopefully onto better things, it wasn't anything posh but it served for those with nowhere else. He wanted to give Cait something a bit more permanent, she needed it he could see it in her eyes, the fiery look of a tumbleweed person, someone who'd escaped from one horrible situation only to end up in another again and again. He saw the look a lot and he knew the feeling. He hadn’t told Harry about his suspicions, figured the angry little firework would tell his vault dweller everything in time, everyone did eventually.  
          He was incredibly attracted to her too, not in the way he was with Harry, Harry got his blood pumping and not just to his dick, there was something special, unnameable about her. This cute ginger thing that had just fallen into his life was all anger and fury in a petite body and that kinda girl was always fun! When Hancock looked at Cait he thought about a mad night of passion, surrounded by chems and sex toys, images he'd not really had since finding Harry… hell maybe his libido hadn’t got as picky as he thought. It was a struggle for someone like him who hides his feelings in a pile of chems to come to terms with the sudden rush of testosterone and dirty thoughts about Cait, yet at the same time still feel such a strong connection with Harry (not that he didn't think that way about her too… he thought about Harry every way it's possible to think about someone). He knew the commonwealth's sweetheart could never love a self confessed fuck up like him, he couldn't really imagine anyone loving him, but sex and seduction…well that was what he did best. Perhaps making a fool of himself chasing after the redhead was just the thing he needed to get Harry out of his head.


	8. What's eating Cait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fahrenheit suggested that Hancock put Cait to work as a sort of secretary (more like babysitter) and that means he gets to spend a lot of time with her, which should really be helping him get his mind off the unavailable Harry but all he's really getting is guilty. Harry keeps vanishing off too which honestly has got him a bit worried. He meant to talk to cait about it, straighten some stuff out but he's never been too good at that sort of thing so they end up getting high instead and that just ends in disaster.

          _So, Cait’s settling in well_ Harry thought to herself as she watched her sitting on the desk in front of a busy Hancock. He kept looking up at her arse and it was making Harry sick. Three weeks had gone by since cait came into their lives like a meteor, destroying what her and Hancock had built… well… could have built. She adored the girl, she really did, honestly it was hard not to when she was so reminiscent of a younger Harry. It hadn't taken her long to open up and tell the two of them a few things about her past and Harry was slowly growing protective of her, she wanted to keep this broken, angry, little firework safe. Fahrenheit had made the suggestion that Hancock give her a temporary job helping him, like a secretary and he loved the idea. It meant his bodyguard and second in command could get on with other stuff whilst Cait babysat the Mayor. The two had been flirting mercilessly since she got there and Harry didn’t understand why that made her so angry. Hancock still had time for her and though she was getting a bit bored in goodneighbour she liked staying at the hotel rexford. She had refused a kind offer of a room in the old state house and that was because she liked the hotel and because she hadn't wanted to put anyone out and nothing at all to do with the idea of spending too much time with Hancock. He would often walk her back at night or they would all have drinks at the third rail, she didn't have to ask to spend time with him he always had a spare ear for her. So why was she so angry? It wasn't like the Mayor was hers in any sense, yes they were flirty too, yes she trusted him above anyone else and maybe she found him attractive but that gave her no right to judge. She wanted him to be happy she really did, well what she really wanted was him by her side always whilst she got on with important stuff. But was she really treating him like that? Did it make him happy? or her? Maybe he should find someone who doesn't have more important stuff to do, someone free of complications like a missing son, someone like cait.  
          She watched the cute redhead laughing at one of Hancock's terrible jokes whilst she sat on the sofa, clearly she wasn’t needed in this room. But after all it was just flirting, she liked cait and knew she would more likely rip Hancock's hand off than kiss him. Though when they were especially high….. Harry put that thought to the back of her head and went down to the basement of the old state house. Bored one day she had taken herself off exploring and found the place, it was unused and dusty. It had once been a mess of broken glass and display cabinets warped with time, she liked it down there, it was quiet and no one asked her stupid questions. One day she'd had an idea and started on her plan for the cellar to make herself feel useful. Now she headed down for the cold and the quiet as much as to hammer and saw and make.  
          Hours later and covered in mess and sweat Harry felt like a wash, this meant boiling and mixing water and using a sponge unfortunately, she still hadn’t figured out how to get a bath into the old house. Hearing chatting voices coming from the office/chem den still she headed in,  
          “....but it's really all about the rush” hancock finished, sat on the big red sofa, Cait beside him,  
          “oh, hi Harry” Cait said, the way she looked and the way she talked still sent shivers down Harry’s spine, that just added to the mess of thoughts and hormones in her head, first it was Hancock and now this? Harry had never been attracted to a woman before and this was just, confusing,  
          “Hey Cait, aren't you guys supposed to be working?”  
          “chem break” Hancock announced as he waved a jet inhaler at her, some mentats rolling around in his mouth  
          “of course it is…. I need to wash” Harry showed this by holding up her arms as though they were disgusted by her own body, Hancock laughed at her awkward miming.  
          After washing Harry stood and looked at herself naked in the chipped mirror in what could almost be called the ‘bathroom’. At least there was a lock on the door, the only one in the whole house and therefore the only chance for real privacy.  
          _I'm not ugly_ she thought giving herself chance to see as much of her as possible by turning this way and that.  
_My hair is boring_ she added, watching the wet tendrils that looked mousy brown fall down her back to touch at her waist  
_I miss heels, they made me feel so glamorous_ these days she wore boots, nothing but boots and thick woolly socks and there was little opportunity to feel glamorous,  
_I'm fierce, I'm perfect, I can do anything_ back in the old world she'd learned that you had to feel confident in who you were to project confidence to others, in the wasteland she'd realised you had to feel confident in yourself in order to not get killed. A dress with little ditsy roses waited for her folded on a table in the corner of the room, it wasn’t glamorous but it made her feel like she was still a woman, still had her feminine side despite mostly living in armor. Hancock made her feel like the most wonderful woman in the world, or at least he had, did she really take that for granted because she was too busy for complications?  
          She pushed open the door to the office, the sight gave her chills and she felt sick. She stared for too long, catching Hancock's eye before snapping her eyes shut. She had hoped closing her eyes would block it but it was imprinted on her all she could do was run away.

          It wasn't working, the girl should have been a happy distraction but he still felt his mind, and gaze, wander to Harry whenever they could. What's more he felt guilty, it's not like he was a misogynist before she'd shown up, women would come and go and it'd all be pretty simple. He'd throw himself into each encounter, however short or long his mind was always on that woman at that moment and his attention all for her. Now he was messed up, he had never felt like this and he definitely hadn’t moped if someone wasn't interested, just move on, live for the moment, at least in his sex life.  
          He had planned on talking to Cait, saying something that would end with him feeling less guilty. After Harry said hi and went off to wash he turned to Cait and wanted to tell her how he really felt but the words just wouldn't line up for him like they usually did. They both got high instead and as he and Cait melted into the sofa he turned to her again, aware that he'd had something to say but he couldn't quite get a grip on what or why. Staring into a blurred void in front of him Hancock strained his mind to figure out why he had the odd niggling feeling, until a face appeared in front of his. Her eyes were dull and unfocused too, she was like a pretty mirror of him, red hair, freckles a cute little nose she was gorgeous and he couldn't entirely remember why he wasn't having sex with her... there was a reason. The chems made him want to touch her, feel her skin, there was something deep in his mind saying something was wrong, that this wasn’t what he'd planned, that he had something important to do. Slowly his hand raised to the freckled face, touching her soft cheek, it was such a tactile sensation, not overly sexual, just enjoying the chems and the feel of someone else's skin. He knew sex was where this scenario usually went though and the little voice in the back of his mind told him to stop but right then and there louder things, like his libido, were telling him to keep going. Her blurred face grew closer and her lips pressed to his, they were dry and a little chapped but the warmth cut through his chem haze. Cait pulled away and looked him in the eyes something was wrong but Hancock was too high to worry about it, he put his hands on her hips and pulled her over so that she was straddling him. He pulled her close, enveloped in the world of her, his mind spinning and detaching from reality. His eyes closed, they kissed again, deeper and longer this time, when his eyes opened he could see Harry looking at him with Cait’s eyes, it was either a hallucination or a dream, maybe he'd passed out and this was all a chem addled fever dream in that case whatever it was that was bugging him didn't matter. Cait reached up and began undoing her top, the soft mounds of her small breasts appearing as she pulled away the leather, he wanted to touch her, he could but… something was tapping at the cloud in his head, something he was supposed to do, something important. Cait seemed to know what to do even if he didn't, she acted with a purpose, a slow, chem clouded purpose but it was one none the less. He felt her pulling at the buttons of his fly, she struggled, if she was feeling anything like him her hands would almost be numb. Somehow it surprised him when she took hold of his cock, like he hadn’t expected it, clearly the chems were messing with the both of them but this didn't seem like a good enough reason to stop what was happening. Cait wriggled herself off Hancock's lap and onto the floor in front of him, her lips wrapped round the tip of his penis and he felt a moment of blissful high. He groaned lightly, closed his eyes and laid his head back simply enjoying the sensation of Cait’s tongue as it ran up and down the shaft. Opening his eyes drearily he thought he saw Harriettes beautiful face and thinking of her made his dick stiffen even more, Cait made a noise he took to mean pleasant surprise and he grinned. The face he saw swam more into focus and through the fog of the drugs he must have been dreaming because he got to look at Harry whilst a warm mouth was sliding up and down his cock. He slowly became more aware of the room as the drugs faded, he was stretched out on the sofa, Cait kneeling in front of him, his head laid back on the cushions, looking at the open door and Harry stood there that's when he realized how hurt she looked and when it was painfully obvious that this really wasn't a dream, that she was really stood there,  
          “SHIT!” the look of pain on her face made him swear and he made to move, pushing Cait unceremoniously out of the way. Harry was halfway down the stairs by the time he got to the door, his flies half buttoned, he knew better than to chase after her, especially since his head was still clouded he knew he'd just end up saying something that would fuck it all up even more. Turning back towards cait he intended to apologize for just shoving her aside but she came running past him and down the stairs. Hancock stood alone, the chem high wearing thin and a million thoughts fighting for his attention, he didn’t want to think about any of this.

          Harry was in the basement when Cait found her, wishing she hadn’t seen that or the look on Hancock's face as he stared into her eyes. One look at Cait and she could see the pain and guilt she was feeling,   
          “I need to tell ya something” came the Irish drawl,  
          “I guess you do, but really it's none of my business who Hancock does what with” she wished it was, but it wasn’t like she could insist on him being there for her and only her when she couldn't give him the same in return,  
          “no, it's not that… I mean… I guess it is that a bit… I need your help” Cait’s plea was like a stab to the heart, Harry adored the girl and could see how unhappy she was, had been able to see for some time. Really, she should be glad that two good friends had found, something, with each other. Now here she was being asked for help by the same girl she wanted to slap. Hancock wasn't hers, they had… nothing… together, she wouldn’t allow there to be anything between them and now he'd moved on. What else did she expect? She swallowed her tongue and asked,  
          “how can I help, start at the beginning”  
          “well, I've been through a lot, I've already told you about my parents, and the slavery and you know I use chems, but you don't know how bad it is”  
          “I don’t?”  
          “it's constant, I can't function without them, I take chems every chance I got and I treat myself like trash when I'm on them. The things they made me do, back when I belonged to some raiders… well after a while I started thinking it was all I was good for and now… well I feel like I'm no good for nothing except taking chems and having sex and maybe fighting”  
          “so you and Hancock…”  
          “there’s no me and Hancock, god I was so high I hardly knew what I was doing”  
          “he's not the guy I thought he was then, if he'd... take advantage like that”  
          “no, no it's not like that, I… I knew what I was doing, I wanted to… but… I didn’t want to for the right reasons, do you understand?” Harry got the impression that cait was trying to explain something that she herself barely understood, “he's not like that at all, he's done so much for me…. And if I'd realized how you felt…”  
          “how I felt?”  
          “well I've seen the way he looks at you, it's obvious but you're harder to read, I thought it was all one sided until I saw your face then”  
          “I just felt bad for… interrupting”  
          “yea… sure…” Cait said sarcastically before trying to explain more “look, me and sex, it's all a bit fucked up. After the slavers… well they didn't exactly treat me well and I didn't exactly have a choice and I was so young, it really messed up my attitude to sex. Then there's the chems on top… Harry I think I need help, the chems, it's worse than you think I've been doing it behind your back. Years now I've been shooting up all kinds of shit just to numb the pain and I can't take it anymore, I need to get clean”  
          “I can help, there's plenty of places we can get addictol”  
          “it won't work, I've done that before and it worked at first but I always fell back into it and now nothing like that works. But… well…”  
          “go on, anything you need” Harry tried to encourage her to explain more, she still cared about her no matter what  
          “well I heard about this vault, they stuck a load of junkies in there and got them clean. I've heard that it's got some sort of machine that can like… take all the shit out of your system… get you clean”  
          “let's go… just… let me talk to Hancock first. I want to see him squirm a bit, I want to show him what I've done down here too”  
          “he'll love it!” Cait assured her after looking at the room around her.

          Hancock knew Cait was right, that it was best she talk to Harry, he'd just end up tripping over his words and make things worse. Honestly he didn't know what to do, he loved her, all he thought about was her but what did Harry feel? Well with any two average people he would say the look on her face meant she felt something but they weren't two average people by any stretch. He still couldn't wrap his head around the idea that anyone found him attractive even after he'd been with so many women, and someone as perfect as Harry? No way could he convince himself she looked at him that way. But if she didn't feel something then he had nothing to feel bad about, unless it was because Cait had said something at some point and… oh god… he'd been so fucking HIGH what if he'd accidentally hurt Cait, what if he'd taken advantage?  
          The two of them walked into the room, Cait hovered a little behind Harry, deep in thought but Harry was staring him down, a look of rage on her face. He couldn't decide if he should jump up and defend himself or sink further into the sofa and take the inevitable beat down,  
          “we need to talk” Harry said to him, crossing her arms over her rather ample chest… why was he thinking about her chest right now? mind you when wasn’t he?  
          “I can tell, you're not exactly subtle when you're mad”  
          “do you really think right now is the best time to be sassy?”  
          “probably not but I don't really have much else going for me… well there's chems but they kinda got me into this in the first place”  
          “oh more than you know Hancock” Cait piped in from behind Harry  
          “well from now on make sure you and whoever else is involved are both into it BEFORE you have high sex… or… you know… sex like things”  
          “fuck what the hell did I do Cait?”  
          “oh nothing too bad, Harry’s just messing with ya really. It's a good point though” Cait pointed out  
          “you could easily have ended up doing something you regret when you get sober. You need to keep it in your pants more… well… I mean… not that your pants are any of my business really… but… you know… you don't want to… you know what I mean right?”  
          “god you're so cute when you get all flustered talking about sex” Hancock teased  
          “stop it… this is… mostly serious” Harry was struggling to keep a straight face now, “Cait, do you want to explain… loosely maybe?”  
          “alright well… I've been through some shit” Cait began, “and it's left me with a very messed up view of some things… sex being one of them. I'm not saying what happened was because of you or anything and I did… you know… I was into it. Anyway I guess I felt like I owed ya, for being so good to me, and I was high”  
          “awww sister you owe me nothing”  
          “well that's good cos I need another favour” Cait began before explaining the whole plan to Hancock.  
          That night the three of them (with Fahrenheit dropping in a few times) drank and ate and planned. In the end it was decided that Hancock would come with them (“I'm going with or without you” was pretty much all Harry said when Hancock brought up her role) then they'd all head to sanctuary and leave Cait in the hands of Preston (“the kindest, most straight arrow in the world” was how Harry described him, he was exactly what a recovering junkie would need). Everyone, including Fahrenheit agreed that Goodneighbour and being around Hancock was exactly the worst idea for a recovering junkie. Hancock didn’t say it but he liked the idea of seeing sanctuary with Harry, seeing where she lived before the war and the people that she met right out of the vault. Oh and then there was her little project in the basement, Harry was happy to show Hancock that! He'd been wondering why she kept vanishing off and it turned out she'd spent weeks making up around 10 bunk beds down there along with footlockers and blankets aplenty. It was a little cramped but it was cosey and a five star hotel compared to the mattresses in the attic. He loved it, thanks to her being a bit bored the drifters and junkies who came in and out of Goodneighbour would be safe and a fair degree more comfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First real bit of smut and it's not with Harry... Oh Hancock is a bit of a mess!
> 
> The bit from his perspective when he's high comes across as a bit confusing... it's supposed to but if it's a bit too much just let me know!


	9. Vault 95

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cait always finds the best fun... also makes things a little awkward between Harry and Hancock

          It turned out Cait really was good at fighting and really useful for travelling, with the three of them it was easy to get to the vault, pretty much nothing could stand in their way. Hancock had never been in a vault before, the idea actually creeped him out and Harry’s experience hadn’t made that any better. They snuck up to get a view of vault 95, it was open and seemed to be surrounded by people. They crouched in bushes and the long dead grass, sneaking closer slowly and it wasn't long before the green of gunners uniforms were obvious against the grey concrete backdrop of the vaults walls. What made it worse was the faked female voice of an assultron, he HATED assultrons, KL-E-O was bad enough and she was mostly nice… well… you wouldn’t want to piss her off. He looked at the two women with him, there was no chance he'd pit Harry against an assultron, she could probably handle it but he wouldn't even hear of it and it would be a little… inappropriate… to ask Cait to huff some jet and draw it away. Looked like it was him then, fuck, he pulled up to Harry,  
          “you seeing what I'm seeing?” he whispered to her  
          “a metric shit ton of gunners and at least one assultron? Yea I see it”  
          “turns out Cait has a knack for finding fun! Look, I'll draw off the damn robot, you two pick off the gunners and I'll meet you back here?”  
          “sounds like a plan, take these though” Harry whispered handing him two pulse grenades, he felt a little safer with those babies in his hands. She went off to tell Cait what was going to happen and he watched and waited for her to give him the signal, she turned to him and gave him a sharp nod that meant now. He jumped up, jet inhaler in his mouth and ran at them managing to attract the attention of the dam robot and a couple of gunners. He ran full, jet fueled pelt away from the vault and saw the two gunners go flying to the ground each with a perfect head-shot, _god I love that woman_. The black, feminine robot still chased him though, two pulse grenades would be enough but only if they landed just right, he'd have to corner her or something. He looked around for somewhere but there was just trees and the vault behind him. Ok, treeline it is, Hancock drove himself at full speed into the trees, dropping the first grenade between two of them and moving away just in time to not get hit by the charge. The assultron wasn't so lucky and it viably staggered as the electric sparks hit it, right… one more… need to find somewhere. Two large rocks presented themselves in front of him, close enough to pass through and too tall to climb over easily, perfect. He dove between them and dropped the pulse mine just behind him he heard it go off and the thing topple to the floor, he'd have to remember where it was, after all this was over Harry would want to pick it clean of anything useful. He quickly circled round and back to the vault entrance to find his vault girl skilfully picking off the last gunner with her sniper rifle,  
          “as usual I'm here with perfect timing” he said as he sauntered up  
          “hummm, perfect for whom?” Harry asked, one brow raised  
          “well not for them, they missed their chance to get done in by the best”  
          “god will you two stop flirting, this trip is supposed to be about me remember” Cait chided, Harry very pointedly looked away avoiding Hancock's gaze,  
          “it can be both” Hancock said with a little sadness tainting his voice.

          The inside had as many gunners as the out, they never really let up but it was easier to fight in a limited space and didn't take too long. Harry was a little preoccupied so was ok with killing them off with less of her usual flare, afterwards she looked about the room scattered with bodies and felt sad. This world always seemed so… empty after the billions of people in her old world and here she was making it emptier still. Thinking about that helped keep her mind off the comment cait had made outside but it still tapped at her subconscious. Did Hancock think she flirted with him a lot? She didn’t want him to get the wrong end of the stick, she wasn’t exactly interested in losing such a great friend because she let her passions rule but at this point if he did actually make a move she wasn't sure she could resist. She looked over at him, he was leaning against the wall nonchalantly looking at her, cigarette in hand he smiled when he realised she was looking back and she moved her gaze away.  
          This was about Cait not her and Hancock, back to business. They eventually found the device, a few more floors and a lot more gunners down and she helped Cait get strapped in,  
          “however lovely it is to watch you two play with cuffs and buckles I don't think I want to be here for this” Hancock announced from the doorway before taking himself off. He'd already found a fair few chems scattered about the place and she assumed he'd be off to find more, nothing wrong with free chems right? After the procedure Cait felt weird, different, like a new person really, Harry could almost feel the ghoul scoffing behind her at this but she knew he was proud of Cait. They set up traps in case of more gunners and bedded down for the night in a couple of the old bedrooms, it'd be a long trek to sanctuary, a day or so of walking so they needed to get some rest whilst they could. After making sure Cait was ok and helping her get comfortable enough to sleep Harry took herself through to Hancock who was sat in the other room they'd requisitioned so he didn't have to tempt Cait if he needed a fix,  
          “you ok?” she asked him  
          “I'm good… it's a big thing you did here you know”  
          “helping a friend, it's as simple as that” Harry said, dismissing the praise not because she didn't agree but just because she thought it went without saying that she'd always help a friend in need  
          “still, this isn't the end, I've been reading on this terminal, the guys in this vault didn’t do too well”  
          “I know, I looked at that too but it's what she does next that makes the difference, I think sanctuary will be good for her”  
          “I'll give up chems when giving them up gets easy, at this point I'd need the chems to help me deal with the stress of getting over the chems” that made her giggle  
          “do you think you have a problem?”  
          “what with the chems? Yea probably but it's not exactly taking over my life, I've managed what… more than two decades… and I've kept them from turning into a downward spiral so far”  
          “aren't you scared one day you'll wake up and it'll be too late?”  
          “it's never too late… I'm a ghoul, I've got hundreds of years to work this stuff out”

          Sanctuary was not what he expected, he'd half imagined a bunch of sad half built shacks and at the same time pictured perfect picket fenced houses with dogs in each yard. In reality it was somewhere in between, surrounded by water with a little bridge and turrets set up right around on raised platforms it felt safe. The road stretched around past houses that sat squat in the ground, surprisingly solid after a nuclear war and 200 odd years. Behind the houses on one side of the road was a big open space, Harry explained to him that it used to be gardens, a picnic area and a children's play area, now it was full of crops. Hancock took a deep breath, even the air out here felt different, thinner, cleaner and the water surrounding the place made a gentle babbling noise. There was a near constant sound of hammering going on as things were built or repaired,  
          “I see why you liked this place” he said to Harry as they approached a solid square building made from neat wooden planks that served as a social hub and market, with a few stores and a well kitted out bar on top,  
          “you should have seen it before the bombs, everything was so green” she looked sad for a moment then perked back up and smiled at him,  
          “do you miss it?”  
          “sometimes, but it's like all of my old life, I miss some parts but not others… you would have been so bored here back then”  
          “I can always make my own entertainment” He quickly regretted saying that, about 20 minutes after Harry and Cait disappeared into a nearby house he was bored out of his skull. He'd already walked around the place three times, chatted up the chem dealer into giving him a discount and tried to play rock paper scissors with the robot butler. He needed something to do, usually he'd get high, fuck someone or kill something, well there didn't seem to be much killing to do around here and he wasn't about to fuck someone in Harry’s old home so next up was chems. He was debating finding somewhere he could pull off his boots, dip his toes in the cool river water and get high when Harry appeared (thank god),  
          “yep, Preston is already trying to persuade her to join the minutemen, he said he'd love to show you around but he's kinda swamped right now”  
          “not sure I need showing around, pretty much seen it all”  
          “yea, it's not big and it's not exactly rock and roll but it's peaceful and it'll be just right for Cait… come on, I want to show you something” she grabbed his hand and before he even thought about it he twisted his fingers into hers. She pulled him along like that, he knew he should be paying attention to where they were going and what was happening but all he could concentrate on was the feeling of her palm against his, her smooth soft skin gently touching his rough. As they walked along hand in hand he just tried not to read too much into it but the feeling of her hand against his was sending electric sparks up his arm and he could feel a twitching in his pants, this woman could get him hard just by holding his hand, fuck.  
           All the dirty thoughts spinning round his head stopped when they reached the top of the hill and he realised where they were. For the second time she'd brought him to the entrance of a vault, only this time it was very very different,  
          “so this is your vault Hu?”  
          “yea” she looked up at him, her eyes wide with sadness, “you wanted to know where this whole thing started and here we are”  
          “is Nate….” he couldn’t quite finish the question  
          “he's still down there, frozen I think, I haven't been able to bring myself to go down again… maybe once it's all over. If I'm going to bury my husband his son deserves to be there too”  
          “I suppose”  
          “do you think I'm heartless”  
          “what? No… god no… I think you've got heart to spare, enough to take on full time babysitting duties on a junkie like me”  
          “you could go down if you wanted, I can wait here”  
          “nope… anyway that down there isn't where your story started, you had a whole life before the vault”  
          “no one ever asks about that! Maybe I'll tell you about it some day”  
          “I will wait with baited breath”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the comments and Kudos are making me all warm and fuzzy inside... thankyou guys :)
> 
> To those asking about smut... it's coming I promise I just enjoyed writing the two of them being all longing a bit too much!


	10. Spectacle Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry want's to go swimming and thinks exploring Spectacle Island is the perfect excuse, when they try to get rid of the mirelurks she comes face to face with her first mirelurk queen. Hancock's reaction to a desperate Harry running from the giant thing is, pretty much, shock until he realises he can help. Full of adrenaline and glad to be alive he runs up to hug Harry and they fall to the ground in a pile but that's not the end of it.

          “Looks like we're going swimming, unless skinny dipping is more your style?” he said with a dirty grin. They were stood on a pier looking at an island in the distance, a brown shape jutting out of the blue of the sea. It was a lovely day, the sun hanging high overhead and the warmth baking her bones. Harry had always been a keen swimmer but got little chance in the radiated wilderness and having heard about this place she had begged Hancock to come and check it out (she got the sneaking suspicion from the look on his face he'd enjoyed her begging),  
          “swimming is fine, NOT skinny dipping”  
          “pahh you're no fun” Hancock was already in the process of stripping down when she looked over, it surprised her and the sight made her skin tingle, she   flushed and looked away. That's until she realised he was packing things into a waterproof bag she hadn't realised her had,  
          “where did you get that?” she asked pointing at it and trying not to look directly at the almost naked man,  
          “I found it” well that made it a lot clearer “already put your pack in, still room in here for another set of clothes”  
          “ohh can you fit my boots in?”  
          “not exactly what I meant but sure”  
          “I'm not stripping off, it's a warm day my vault suit will dry quickly”  
          “that's not the issue” he said before tentatively lowering himself into the waist high water. She loved the fact that he could take down an angry assultron but jumping into water was too much for him,  
          “aren't you going to take your hat off?” she asked, he was still wearing his signature tricorn despite taking off everything else but his underwear,  
          “well I wasn’t planning on my head getting in the water”  
          “em… I guess that makes sense”  
          “are you sure you have enough rad-x?”  
          “yes, you made me buy 20 from the last trader we saw so I think I have enough for a 30 minute swim”  
          “then what are you waiting for… not scared are you?” she scoffed at this, straightened her back and performed a perfect dive, skimming the sea bottom and emerging some 3 meters away from him,  
          “you coming then?”  
          Hancock was a terrible but very enthusiastic swimmer, he could never quite decide on one stroke but his method of odd combinations created a sort of windmill effect that was actually quite fast. Harry glided past him easily, gracefully like she was made for the water, expending a small amount of energy to go a long distance whilst the ghoul flapped and waved his arms and legs constantly, quick enough to seem like a blur and using up way more energy than he needed to. Still his stamina was impressive, she could easily imagine what he'd been doing to keep it high, she felt a short thrill thinking about it.  
          They reached the island in good time, only to find it full of mirelurks and run down buildings. After seeing off a few of the giant crabs and a short trek they found a small hut that looked to be made out of part of an aeroplane or a boat. Investigations found a strange system of speakers and wiring and a note about turning on the generator in a nearby beached ship to sound some sort of signal that would scare away the mirelurks. Harry stuck her head out and could see wires strung up to trees leading out towards the edge of the island, this looked promising. They came up with a plan where one of them (namely her) would go and switch on the generator then run back and the other (Hancock) would flip the switch when he saw her coming over the crest of the hill. It might just work, though it was all riding on the thing actually still functioning, if not she would be running up chased by a lot of angry mirelurks and it would take a lot to kill them off. Well it was better than some of the mad schemes Hancock had come up with in the past. She set off, following the wire as it jumped from tree to tree until she came to a thin, rickety looking walkway made from two planks hastily nailed down to poles stuck in the sand. It took some careful balancing to get across without landing in the water but she made it and found the circuit breaker with no trouble. It was worrying her that she hadn't seen and mirelurks yet, the quiet suggested that something big was coming, well here goes nothing. She pushed up the switch… nothing happened, She stepped outside… still nothing happened, she edged her way carefully onto the teetering walkway… something huge burst from the water. She didn’t have time to look at it before losing her balance and falling headlong into the water, she was disorientated and stuck out towards what she hoped was the shore, thankful that it was her in that position and not Hancock. She made it to the sand and climbed to her feet, she'd heard descriptions of mirelurk queens before but never seen one. God it was ugly and had brown oozing lumps on a body that was about two stories high with water cascading from its hulking form. She set off running at a full sprint, the one advantage she had against it being her speed, it was clearly clumsy on land. The descriptions she had heard never mentioned one thing though, it shoots some sort of stinking acid from orifices somewhere at the top of its body, a drop caught her shoulder and it stung. She just got faster, running as quick as she could towards Hancock.

          He stood twiddling his thumbs waiting to see her running over the hill… she'd been longer than he'd expected already. That was when he saw her, running full speed, yelling something he couldn’t make out and waving her arms about. He just looked at her in confusion, suddenly forgetting what his part of the plan entailed, then it crested the hill behind her, it's ugly skin rivaling his own and it just didn’t stop coming into view, it was huge. He ran the gamut of emotions, from confused to scared and angry, right up to joy at the realisation that he had the signal. He dived at the switch, offering a desperate prayer to any god that would take him as he flipped it. An ear piercing noise erupted from the speakers, he threw his hands over his ears until the ringing had stopped and went to see what had happened. Harry was still running but the thing had turned and was heading back to whatever hole it crawled out of. He set off running towards her and saw the realisation in her eyes before she hit him with the full force of her body. They both slammed to the ground arms and legs wrapped around each other, laughing with sheer adrenalin and joy at being alive. He looked into her happy eyes and kissed her.

          It caught her by surprise, one moment they were laughing the next his lips were on hers. The rough skin that surrounded his mouth brushed against her soft lips and she let out a low moan at the feeling. He took that chance to roughly part his lips against hers and softly lick her top lip, it sent shivers straight to her crotch and she felt her hips unconsciously moving closer to his body. She answered his gently questing tongue by touching hers to his top teeth, he moved his mouth to gently bite her bottom lip and she groaned, pressing herself further into him. His hand found the small of her back and pulled her unrelenting body closer whilst she tasted him, he tasted like chems and cigarettes and made her feel light headed. She wanted more, she wanted all of him, she wanted to feel him inside her and her body instinctively moved itself to rub against him. Then it was over, he pulled away and she was left panting and shaking a little, the taste of him still on her lips.  
          “you're wet” he pointed out in more ways than one she thought,  
          “what?” was what she actually said  
          “your clothes, did you fall in”  
          “oh, oh yes… yes I did” he rooted around in the waterproof bag he'd swam there with,  
          “here” he said, throwing her a dry, cleanish shirt and a towel, “you can go in there and change… I'll make a fire”  
          She stepped into the little shack and had to remind herself to breathe… bending and laying her hands flat on a work surface she caught her breath, the kiss replaying again and again in her head. She could hear the sound of Hancock chopping wood in the distance and slipped off her vault suit, letting the wet fabric fall to the floor. She stood there in her underwear devilishly horny with no where for the energy to go, one hand touched her stomach and crept down inside her knickers gently touching the soft hair there. Lower and she touched her lips, gently parting them until her middle finger found the sensitive spot it was looking for, god she really was wet. As she touched herself she imagined Hancock watching her, he was so nearby, the idea of him watching as she panted and and moaned got her so excited, she had to hold her breath to not scream out as she reached her climax picturing the dirty grin on his face if he'd seen. She stood there for a moment catching her breath, when she heard Hancock outside she threw on his shirt and went to join him.

          He pretty much threw the axe at the wood, frustrated and almost ready to burst, his cock hard and his teeth clenched. She had tasted so sweet, her lips had been so plump and giving when he gently sank his teeth into them. Every moan from her had a hard line straight to his dick and now it was throbbing, oh god when she twisted her hips just so and moved into him. He was wondering why he'd stopped it now, why he'd pulled away when she was clearly enjoying it. But he wasn't that guy, they'd just escaped death, serious, acid spewing, sharp pincered death and they'd… got carried away in the moment. What if he'd done it right then and there, fucked her screaming and panting into tomorrow (oh god he wanted to) then she'd realised it was a mistake, an adrenaline fuelled moment of idiocy? Now he was just trying to burn off some energy chopping wood, putting all of his focus on the axe in his hand and not into thinking about those little groans she made into his mouth or imaging what else her could do to make her moan like that again.  
          When he'd finally calmed himself a little he looked at what he'd done, in front of him was about three days worth of wood, maybe even more. He'd been there a while without noticing the time pass and she hadn't come looking for him, what had she been doing? Maybe she’d been… nope do not start down that road. He started building up a fire and she appeared in his shirt, those long legs on show again, he couldn't stop looking at her thighs and if he didn't know any better he'd think she looked a little flushed.

          Harry sat down by the fire, trying to show as little as possible whilst spreading her clothes out to dry and wearing only a shirt. She could feel his eyes on her and felt excited and shy and jittery. She felt goosebumps rise on her skin as his gaze moved over her,  
          “are you cold?” he asked  
          “no, I'm fine” that's not the cold idiot  
          “here” he said, handing her his coat, she just looked at it until he moved to throw it over her legs. She knew what it meant to him, hell what this jacket meant to America and the history of a country torn apart, her country,  
          “doesn’t look quite right….. ahhh” he pulled off the hat and dropped it on her head, the very same hat that he refused to take of to swim here. She pointed that out to him,  
          “well you deserve it more than water” he replied, he had a point but still, the gesture wasn't lost on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY... !!!!


	11. Playing House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So after THE KISS Hancock hasn't mentioned anything and Harry is starting to get... frustrated in more ways than one but in true Hancock fashion he shows her how much he cares with a grand gesture and has to bite back his own frustration as she makes it very very clear what she wants.

          Days had passed and Hancock hadn't mentioned _the kiss_ or anything else along those lines. Harry waited for him to make a move or something, she'd realised that night that she was beyond caring what it meant to him or what might happen in her future. She just couldn't stop thinking about his hands all over her, his lips, his teeth… she was in a constant state of arousal and wanted him no matter the consequences.  
          The first day there they'd explored, the place was bigger than she'd expected and it didn't take long for Harry to pick the spot for their first building to go up. They'd found a pre war house that was in complete ruin, it looked like at some point someone had tried camping in there but it really wasn't up to much. If the rubble were water it would have been at least waist height and was packed in so firmly it was going nowhere. However nearby was a little storage shed or workshop with a greenhouse, it'd be perfect for her to grow some of the more delicate fruit and veg and at the same time great as a workspace. They'd built up a small shack for their second night on the island, it was nothing really with it still having two open sides and half a roof but it sufficed whilst they slept in their sleeping bags. By the third day and after a lot of hard work it was now something to see, with two bedrooms and a big open plan living area complete with the stove they'd dragged out of the old house and a kitchen table fit for six. They'd put in space for a bathroom and so far she'd installed a toilet but had yet to work on the bath and her beloved water heating system. The two of them worked closely together and every time Harry got too close she could smell him, smoke and must and salt like the sea and old books, and she could almost close the gap and feel him against her. Every time he looked at her though he frowned, she figured he was working through some stuff and decided to leave him be.

          The kitchen was all set up, his bedroom was comfy enough and they'd found a big soft sofa and dragged it into their little hut but one important thing wasn't quite right. He'd been picking up little items as he walked about with her, stealing glances and just trying not to over think the whole situation. He wondered if she was feeling bad about the kiss but he'd started noticing little things that he hadn't before, the way she looked at him had changed, or he could see it now when he hadn't before. Hancock definitely recognised lust in a woman's eyes but never once imagined he'd see it in hers, it truly was a sight, to see her looking at him with half lidded eyes and the play of a slight smile on her lips. It was torture now, he couldn't wait but he had to do this right, it'd never really been an issue before he'd always just followed his urges with another willing partner as soon as they came up but… with her it was… different. He really wanted her to know that she wasn't just another woman, that she was so much more but he'd said that to everyone who graced the sheets of a bed in the hotel Rexford or been with him in some secluded spot (in his defence he wasn't lying, he remembered pretty much every one of his lovers and each one was new and exciting, none of them were just “some woman” or man but this was so much more). He'd need to show her, actions speak louder than words, he was a master with words but… not so good with actions. He'd made up his mind what to do after a few days of pondering and part of it was going to be hellish.  
          He'd noticed her sneaking off in the middle of the day, making some lame excuses he barely listened to but he didn't care, she was allowed her alone time and really it was the perfect opportunity. As she mumbled something about collecting more steel and wandered off he watched her go then dived under his bed and pulled out the boxes full of stuff and set to work. As the sun lowered he lit oil lamps and candles around the house, just finishing up in the living room when she pushed open the blue door from the outside. He looked up to see her silhouetted in the last of the dying light, noted the lack of salvage in her arms and smiled at her, she flopped down on the sofa her soft comfortable dress spreading out around her (she'd taken to wearing light summer dresses since getting there, he loved it). Upon sitting down next to her he saw her lift and sit more like a lady, showing interest in his presence at her side,  
          “good day?” he asked, she nodded “good… I want to talk”  
          “ok, nothing wrong I hope?”  
          “no nothing like that, I just… well I figure you've worked out by now that I find you overwhelmingly attractive,”  
          “overwhelmingly… really?” she giggled,  
          “I’d be offended at you giggling at me if your laugh wasn't the cutest thing I've ever heard”  
          “I'm not laughing at you John, just the way you said that, so… serious”  
          “god I love it when you call me that”  
          “what John?”  
          “yea, usually it’s Hancock, to everyone else it’s Hancock, you only say it when you feel especially close to me, it means a lot to me when you say my name”  
          “aww you’re being uncharacteristically soppy, what’s happening, am I dying? did you poison me?” she joked,  
          “well if you stopped interrupting me with smart Alec remarks I’d get the chance to tell you. Anyway, like I said I find you overwhelmingly attractive”  
          “you said that already and I said, overwhelmingly, really?  
          “yes… my brain works about half as much as usual when you're around, it's irritating,”  
          “something else working overtime?” Harry’s voice became husky with that question and just made it harder to think  
          “well yes, but that's not the point… well not the main point”  
          “what is?” she was looking at him with those eyes, looking hazily into his soul and asking him to take her now, if he didn't get this out soon he'd just be a puddle on the floor. He put his hand on her waist and pulled her onto his lap, it wouldn't make him less aroused but the smell of her, the feel of her, it was enough to hold back a little longer,  
          “well, I know you probably worry about my… past” she was moving her arse a little, trying to get comfortable on his lap and the sensation running through his whole body almost made him groan,           “you're different, this is different,”  
          “Is that why you poisoned me?”  
          “will you stop with this poison thing and let me get this out? look, the past year or so, travelling with you, it’s been the best time of my life and you mean a lot to me”  
          “Hancock I don’t care if I'm the love of your life or another notch on your bedpost, I can't resist you any more”her voice was deep, sultry _oh god… she isn't making this easy_  
          “but I do care, I want to show you how much… I thought I might start with this…stand up and I'll show you,”  
          “but I like it on your lap,” when did this happen? When did she become some sort of… seductress… he was glad it was the angry, fireball contradiction that he met, if he'd seen this side of her first he probably wouldn't have wasted a second ripping her clothes off and worshipping her,  
          “you'll like this too, come on”

          Her heart beat faster, he'd moved her off his lap and took her hand to lead her into her bedroom. He had said he wanted to show her what she meant to him, oh god she wanted him to show her all night, again and again and again. The door opened and she paused… this wasn't what she expected at all, her bedroom was, well it was beautiful. The bed against the wall had sheets and a pile of pillows on it and the walls were covered with posters and… kitten pictures. A small comfy looking sofa sat at the end of her bed and windows that were little more than an opening in the wall had curtains, actual curtains! At the other side of the room sat a dressing table and stool, a barely cracked mirror standing tall on its surface and a few things like a hairbrush and perfume bottle (empty obviously) sat in front of it. It was like a cosy cabin she'd seen pictures before the war, standing here she could imagine holidays in the woods, secluded and quiet. But… kitten pictures…  
          “Kitten pictures?” she questioned him  
          “well yea, I thought they'd make you laugh… I had intended to take them down when I found some more posters or some paint, so what do you think?”  
          “ok they are funny… otherwise it's perfect, is this what you did when I was sunbathing today” shit… she hadn't meant to tell him about that. Oh well, she wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed in his scent, it was enough to make her tingle all over.  
          “sunbathing, really?” Hancock said with a look that made her shudder  
          “yep, topless too” she could see his eyes widen at that. Now she needed to persuade him over to the bed, she sat on it and patted the spot beside her. Hancock looked a little dubious but sat down next to her anyway, she grabbed him and pulled him backwards to lay on the surface and kissed him, their mouths opening and tongues gently caressing. She reached one hand down to touch his hard cock, he grabbed her roaming hand and in a surprisingly smooth movement, turned her around clamping her in his arms as he curled around her, always the big spoon,  
          “what are you doing?” she asked exasperated and struggling to get free  
          “I told you, I want to show how much you mean to me and if I just fuck your brains out right now that's not exactly a good example,”  
          “I don’t care… I want you” the last words came out breathy and almost moaning and he had to bite what was left of his lip to regain some semblance of composure,  
          “I care, look, you're so much more to me than just another lover and I want you to know that completely… now will you just relax and let me hold you?”                       He felt the tension drain from her a little and her breathing slow. He manoeuvred them about so their heads were on the pillows, her back to him and his arms around her. She took his hand and twined her fingers into his and they just laid there. As time passed both relaxed into it more and more and eventually he realised she was asleep and softly snoring. He took a moment to look at her, just laid so comfortably in his arms gently breathing in and out, their bodies fit together so well and he just longed to stay like that. He didn't though, he had planned to sleep in his own bed no matter what and he intended to stick to that at least. Waking up in the morning with her beside him, especially in this mood, she'd be too hard to resist. He very carefully untangled himself then folded his half of the covers over her, just standing and looking at her sleeping form for a moment before leaving. For once he slept soundly, the nightmares that usually haunted him kept at bay by dreams of her and some impossible perfect life together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to everyone hoping for more smut... next chapter is gonna be loaded with a lot of feels and a bit of fun so bear with me, it'll be worth it!
> 
> thank you all for the kudos and lovely comments, when I started this it was just to get it all out of my own head (it wasn't really letting me concentrate on anything up there) and I did exactly expect a reaction at all but you lot seem to like it and I couldn't be happier :)


	12. Danse Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danse turns up with a proposition and Harry has a big choice to make, it's a good job Hancock is there to distract her from her problems.

          They'd fallen into a rhythm after being on the island for about a week, now it was more like two and a half weeks since they'd arrived and she was starting to rethink everything. She'd expected Hancock to take the first opportunity to dive on her but he hadn’t and two weeks later still hadn’t. He was right of course, it had taken this long for her to figure out what he had meant by showing her how much he cared. If he had taken the first opportunity to have sex with her she'd have been convinced it was a one time thing then… nothing… maybe back to normal maybe not. Now she knew how he felt which brought up a whole new set of questions, could she afford to have someone important in her life? Would she still look for her son if she was happy here with him? could she let her guard down that much?  
          By now they'd built up a small collection of houses ready for people to move into. He'd asked her to teach him some of what she knew since he'd never been very good at the hands on stuff. He was a quick learner and she was running out of things to teach. She still kept vanishing off to sunbathe, they spent all their time together and she liked that, but she liked alone time too. She'd noticed he kept sneaking off too so had assumed that feeling was mutual. Every night he would hold her in his arms, their breathing in time, sometimes stroking her hair until she fell asleep. He still insisted on sleeping in his own bed though and she'd demanded he at least give her a shirt to sleep in she didn't exactly tell him why, he just handed it over happily and in truth she liked the fact that it smelt like him. It was early in the morning and she was sleeping in his shirt in the bedroom he'd made for her when Danse tumbled back into their lives.  
          She was woken by the loud noise of some sort of heavy engines and snapped out of bed and ran straight outside without thinking. Hancock was already there and dressed in his usual garb as though he'd been up for hours. The great metal mass of a vertibird was landing in an open patch towards the centre of the island, marring the view with its gunmetal grey amongst the soft, natural browns and blues and faded greens. Before it had even touched down a group of power armour suits wielding mini guns jumped out and swept the immediate area. Once they found no threat (what they were expecting she didn't know) they formed a diamond shape to protect some more important suit in the centre. As they approached Hancock placed a protective hand on Harriettes arm and stepped just a little in front of her, she could feel the tension in his touch and assumed every muscle in his taught body was ready to fight. The gun wielding suits moved aside to reveal Danse in the centre, he took in the scene with obvious rage as he noticed her state of undress and Hancock's protective hand on her,  
          “we need to talk” he spat through tense lips  
          “I've got nothing to say to you tin can” Hancock almost hissed  
          “then it's good I'm not talking to you freak” Danse said, not taking his eyes off the barely covered woman the ghoul was protecting,  
          “what on earth could the brotherhood's best little lap dog want with me?” Harry said with not too small an amount of spite  
          “I'll ignore your tone since I acted ungraciously last time we met, I gave you the wrong impression of the brotherhood and for that I apologise”  
          “I think you gave us just the right impression of the brotherhood” Danse ignored this comment from Hancock and continued to address Harriette,  
          “may I come inside?” the soldier asked  
          “if you don't mind entering our hovel, it's nothing compared to your flying ship after all” Harry sarcastically said  
          “if would be honoured to come into your home Miss Monroe”  
          She led the two of them inside both barely containing their anger towards each other. Hancock sat at the kitchen table and she leaned over him, her hands on his shoulders and gently whispered into his ear,  
          “be nice… oh and put the kettle on” before announcing to both the men “I'm going to get dressed, everyone keep their weapons to themselves”  
          Reappearing in a soft blue summer dress she sat at the table with Hancock and found a hot coffee in front of her. She hummed in approval as she sipped the warm drink,  
          “would you care to sit paladin?”  
          “no I'm quite fine stood thank you”  
          “not sure he can sit in that suit” Hancock muttered, she ignored him  
          “would you like some coffee?”  
          “I wouldn't accept any food or beverage made by that… thing” Danse responded, Harry sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose,  
          “let's not bother with pleasantries” she knew she'd be unlikely to get anything that wasn't a thinly veiled threat from both the men, “why are you here?”  
          “when we last met I made you an offer” Danse said after a long sigh, it had the hints of the beginning of a long rehearsed speech “I gave you a bad impression of the brotherhood of steel and I know that, but the offer still stands”  
          “really? I find it hard to believe that you'd come all this way just to recruit me”  
          “there have been scouts looking for you for months, when we got word that you had been asking around about spectacle island I knew it was the most likely place. It is tactically a great area to choose as a settlement and I knew you would have seen that too. But back to business” she took this to mean back to his pre prepared speech, “You have been making great waves in the commonwealth, our ground troops have been returning with endless tales of you and it has become clear that, despite the margin for exaggeration in these tales, you have become a force to be reckoned with. You have half the commonwealth ready to fight for you at a single word and, though our numbers are greater, we need the public to come around to our way of thinking, to offer us support where needed.”  
          “I can't make them do anything, I'm flattered that you think I have an army at my back but it's simply not true, were they to fight it would be for themselves and their own beliefs” she answered, shocked that he would put so much importance on some farms and small towns owing her a favour,  
          “however much I'm sure that's true the brotherhood needs to have the ears of the public, you are a great figurehead for that, the people will listen to you. It helps that you are also a brilliant mind and a great fighter, you would be an asset to the brotherhood”  
          “she would definitely be that” Hancock said, almost glowing with pride, she looked at him and smiled warmly, something that was not missed by their visitor,  
          “what would I get out of this exchange? You can't want me to join the brotherhood simply for the opportunity, not when you seem to think I bring so much to the table” she asked, dubious about the whole thing,  
          “whilst attempting to find you we gathered intelligence that you are looking for your son and believe the institute may be involved, is this true?”  
          “yes” the reminder of Shaun tugged at her resolve, what if they knew something? Would Danse tell her if they did or would he use it as a bargaining chip?  
          “the brotherhood intends to take down the institute and fully intends to give you all and any assistance to find your lost son” so that's it then, using her child to get her to join, she wondered if they were withholding information they had on the institute or even on Shawn but she couldn't just come out and ask him that,  
          “what makes you think you have the power to do that?” Harriette asked instead of what she really wanted to  
          “we have a small army, contacts in the commonwealth and beyond as well as a small fleet of Vertibird and the Prydwen, whilst these would not be at your disposal to do with as you please they would be on your side in this fight. On top of that you would be issued with your own set of power armour and a top class mentor to train you in the brotherhood ideals and combat”  
          “and Hancock?”  
          “He is not part of the deal, what you do when not in the presence of the brotherhood is unfortunately up to you, however if that thing is seen aboard the Prydwen or in the airport he will be shot”  
          “You'd never get a chance pretty boy” Hancock snarled  
          “Hancock please,” she chided him, though gently before turning to Danse and saying “I don’t appreciate threats made towards my friends”  
          “that wasn't a threat, simply a statement of fact, I personally would have no control over that”  
          “If I were to agree I would need assurances that both Hancock and Goodneighbour would not be involved in your war, the people of Goodneighbour will be left to live as they wish and not interfered with in any way”  
          “I will have to talk to my superior but I can't imagine that would be an unreasonable request, so long as he stays away from our interests”  
          “I will have to think this over” she said, making to stand and pour more coffee  
          “of course, I would expect nothing less of you, I will return in a week for your answer” he saluted, a movement she didn't really appreciate. Still she walked around the furniture and showed the big handsome man out, Hancock stood with her as they watched the men return and the Vertibird take off in a cloud of dust.

          Hancock didn't know what to say, after all this time that pretty soldier had dropped back into their lives and she was going to leave with him. He could feel it, they had used her own son like a carrot to get her to join up and he could never compete with that. He was a fairly powerful man no matter how much he hated that fact, he may have built up contacts, he may have all the people of Goodneighbour but he couldn't offer her an army. They just stood in the house they'd built together in silence, he had to say something, a whole speech formed in his head but in the end all he managed was “don’t go”  
          “I don’t want to talk about it” she marched straight to her room slamming the door behind her, he knew it wasn't really him she was mad at but he couldn't help feeling hurt. He heard her let out an exasperated groan and the old springs of the mattress creak in complaint as she threw her body onto them. He waited a moment then pushed open her door, she was laid face down on her bed, the pillow muffling yet more frustrated noises, without saying a word he lay down next to her and placed his hand in the small of her back. She turned her whole body to face him and looked up with a sad expression, he gently moved a lock of hair from over her face and smiled kindly. She buried her head in his chest and he simply held her, feeling the warmth of her body against him and the movement as she breathed gently. He closed his eyes and like that they both fell asleep.

          She woke draped over Hancock, one hand on his chest and his arms around her. She smiled and closed her eyes again to enjoy his warmth against her, the feel of his hard body, his smell,  
          “Morning sunshine” he said drearily, it was dark outside, likely the middle of the night so she giggled at the misuse of the phrase, “god I love your laugh”  
          “thanks for staying with me… I think we slept all day”  
          “that's ok, I like being in bed, favourite place to be really” he wrapped his arms around her a little tighter and in return she nuzzled his chest making happy noises. A rough finger touched her chin and pulled up her head for a kiss, it was deep, sensual and she groaned happily when her parted her lips with the tip of his tongue. Her body responded to him and she found her legs parting to wrap around him and her hips angling just so as his mouth pressed against hers and his tongue explored. His hand found her arse and he cupped one cheek squeezing the soft flesh, she moaned against him and angled her hips even more until she was rubbing herself against him. With this he made a disgruntled noise and grabbed her, pushing her down onto the bed and kneeling above her, he pulled at the hem of her dress and took it off in one easy movement. Suddenly she felt exposed and moved her hands to cover herself,  
          “oh no you don't” Hancock hissed, taking her wrists and pinning them above her head. There she lay, prone in front of him in just her underwear, her legs wrapped around his hips and his body leaning over hers. He studied her, his eyes moving along every inch of skin before eventually he reached behind her with his free hand and struggled with the clasp of her bra. She angled herself to help him and the small movement made him gasp, her bra removed it was thrown across the room and her breasts got the same treatment as the rest of her, his eyes taking in every little hair, every freckle or scar. Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out his trusted old knife and lay the cold metal against her warm skin, she pulled in a ragged breath at it and he worked the metal down to her knickers and cut them off her, pulling the last of the fabric free and throwing it and the knife across the room. Harry moaned and moved herself into him, he took each of her wrists in his hands and straighten up to study her nakedness whilst he loomed over her fully clothed, a wicked grin on his face. She looked up at him pleadingly,  
          “god I love that look on your face” he said before replacing her wrists in one hand above her head and leaning his body into her. His free hand crept down over her stomach, taking a moment to stop at her soft pubic hair then working it's way down to her lips, he paused and took another look at the pleading in her eyes before parting her and finding her clitoris. Touching the sensitive spot made her let out a low noise, somewhere between a yelp and a moan, which took his breath away. She began moving herself against his fingers and he took that as a hint to do something. He started to gently circle her clit, sending shivers up and down her, she moved her hips to the rhythm he was setting with his fingers, her insides cried out to be touched and a simple “please” escaped her lips. He moved one finger inside her and she let out a groan, still moving her hips against him, she could feel the erection hard and… well big… inside his trousers. A second finger slipped inside her eliciting another groan and he moved them within to find the right spot, once he caught the sensitive spot inside her that Harry only vaguely knew about she let out a yell and he grinned. Finding her clit with his thumb he started to move in a rhythmic fashion, running his fingers along her insides, she could feel herself tightening around them as her hips kept time with the movement of his hands. Panting and sweating her body moved against his and she felt herself reaching her peak, her belly filling with pleasure like hot lava. Shuddering and screaming she came around his fingers, he couldn't help but smile at her surprised face as she breathed heavily and looked at him, her eyes heavily lidded,  
          “not done yet sister” he said, moving his hand away he licked his fingers then undid his button fly and let his trousers drop to the floor. In a simple movement he slipped his hand under her back and lifted her, her legs still wrapped around his waist. He laid her back against a wall and held her up with one hand on her thigh, with the other hand he guided his cock inside her, she let out a high pitched yell, closed her eyes and threw her head back. He was filling her up as he moved his hips to gently slide in and out of her “god you're so tight and wet” he whispered into her ear, picking up the pace with his hips. Every movement he made drew out a moan from her tense lips and she threw back her head again, her hair tumbling down over their intertwined bodies. He thrust inside her again and again, her head filled with nothing but pleasure, he lowered his face and gently bit her collarbone and she let out a short scream. She was filling with warmth again, her entire body made of sparks and heat, her entire world made of him. She felt him groan against her skin as her muscles tightened around him and she came, with a scream, every muscle in her body shaking and her mind switching off. He came inside her with a loud bellow and they collapsed together in a heap on the floor,  
          “good?” Hancock asked once he could breathe again, she meant to reply with good? That was wonderful but instead just made a nondescript noise. He just smiled at her and pulled her close to him, “I'll take that as a yes”  
          “aummmunan” should really have been oh so much yes, he laughed,  
          “looks like I broke you” he said, standing and lifting her onto the bed, he lay beside her planting small kisses on her collarbone and neck “you know, if we figure out how to make you ghoul we could do this long term”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SMMMUUUUUUUTTT
> 
> See... smut... it's been a long time coming but they finally did the do
> 
> in all seriousness though thankyou all for kudos and comments, they make me smile like an idiot.


	13. Two Become one

          For hours they lay together in bed, tangled up in a mess of limbs watching as light started forming behind the curtains,  
          “ohh yea I've got a surprise for you” Hancock said,  
          “mmmmmmmm?” Harry replied sleepily, she wasn’t entirely sure she liked where this was going,  
          “come on, we can sleep when we're dead”  
          “Hancock, I think we both did about three days worth of exercise, I'm running low on energy right now”  
          “well someone has no idea what's coming their way… it's ok, I'll ease you into it. Come on, you'll love this I promise”  
          “ugh fine”  
          “grab your dress” he was already up, pulling on his pants and doing up the fly before reaching for his shirt,  
          “why the hell would we want clothes?” Harry tried to give him the kind of look that would make him want to jump right back into bed, but Hancock was nothing if not stubborn and even that wouldn’t stop him,  
          “we're going outside, I'd prefer it if you wasn't walking about naked when a Brotherhood of shit heads Vertibird flies over” she nodded at this, standing up and grabbing her dress but Hancock took it from her before she had chance to pull it on,  
          “just admiring the view a little longer… here” he passed the cotton dress back and Harry slipped it over her head, getting a disappointed sound from Hancock,  
          “do you want me to put clothes on or not?” she said in mock exasperation  
          “oh sister I'd rather you never put clothes on, but for both our sake I think you should… come on” he grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers pulling her out of the shack and towards the other side of the island. She occasionally grumbled about being dragged so far but really she was enjoying holding his hand, a little gesture she hadn't realised would be so important to her.  
          Together, hand in hand they walked towards a stony outcrop in the side of the hill, it was a beautiful afternoon, the sun shining in the sky and a slight breeze from the sea ruffling her long hair. He stopped suddenly almost making her fall,  
          “ok so I want to explain a bit before you see it” he sounded far too serious compared to the usual easy demeanour, this was clearly a big deal and she should have behaved accordingly. But Harry was never one to miss an opportunity to make him smile,  
          “awww but I want my present noooow” she stamped her feet and whined like a child,  
          “you will get it when you're a good girl” he chided, a dirty grin on his face “look, just let me get this out… you know I keep sneaking off?”  
          “yea, I always figured you needed some alone time… I mean, I do it too”  
          “well there is that, I've been having a lot of… impure thoughts lately” it took a moment for this to sink in before Harry’s face screwed up in mock disgust  
          “ewww I didn't mean that… although… yea… that too”  
          “good to know” Hancock gave her the smuggest, most self satisfied grin, “well yea, I’ve not just been doing that… I wanted to practice some of the stuff you’ve been teaching me about building and DIY and stuff so… well I did this…”  
          Over the hill, on the little stony outcrop stood a bathtub, the biggest bathtub Harry had ever seen (god knows where he got it) it was positioned in the perfect spot. Sheltered by leafless trees and facing out to sea, the natural curve of the earth behind it hid the city from view. From where it sat the world could have been empty, all she could see was nature and the sun gleaming on the gently lapping waves right up to the horizon. Hancock turned the tap and hot water spilled from it, sending a little steam into the warm air,  
          “come on, I’ll show you what I did whilst it runs” she followed him down, the pipes running next to them, a big tank stood out of view with a fire burning beneath it, Hancock saw the look on her face “I’ve been keeping the fire going for days waiting till the perfect time to show it to you”  
          “aww, I can’t believe you did this for me”  
          “there’s more, I’ve put turrets all around in hidden spots so you don’t even have to worry about keeping an eye out, you can totally relax”  
          “wanna jump in then?” she smiled at him suggestively,  
          “well that wasn’t the plan, it was intended for you...but I’ll not refuse” he started removing his clothes before they even made it back to the tub. This was the first time she’d really got to look at him naked, at least when not looking through a gap in the wall, he was tall and thin, the muscles under his scarred skin rippling, making patterns from the jagged marks. She stared, mesmerised by him and her eyes began to wander from his chest, down his flat stomach to his… ohh… well… isn't that something, he spotted her wide eyed stare and smiled,  
          “enjoying the view?” she blushed deeply and looked away “don’t worry, look all you want… god it’s adorable how shy you are, even after what we did earlier”

          He slipped into the hot water, letting out a sigh at the temperature, steaming hot even through his scarred skin and gesturing for her to join him. She sat in front of him and he pulled her down to lean back on his chest feeling the soft flesh of her back against him, he lifted some water in his hands and started spilling it down her front enjoying the feel of her wriggling against him. After she settled, leaning her head back on his shoulder he laughed,  
          “glad I finally got to do this, I did suggest it months ago back at Oberland” she snapped upright, her back straight and tense and turned, wide eyed to face him,  
          “you knew it was me? how long did you know?” she could feel the heat on her face and knew she must be bright red,  
          “all along, I heard you come in. My nose dropped off not my ears”  
          “Oh god I can’t believe you knew all along… I’m so embarrassed”  
          “Don’t be, I loved it, took everything I had not to get hard at the idea of you watching me… that would’ve given the game up for sure”  
          “why didn’t you stop me?” she said and he gently pulled her back down to lay against him,  
          “if a beautiful woman wants to watch me undress I’d be a fool to stop her”  
          “and you didn’t say anything the next day either?” she asked as he brought water up in his hands and let the hot liquid run down Harry’s front,  
          “could you imagine that conversation? plus you didn’t exactly react well, you were gone for hours, I thought you’d taken off and left me”  
          “you know I’d never do that, not without talking to you first”  
          “I do now but I didn't at that point, it would make this decision easier for you if you had gone”  
          “I don’t think anything could make this easier, and I couldn’t make up my mind without talking to you… what do you think I should do?”  
          “well I’d keep you here like this forever if I could, I don’t want to share you with anyone but we both know you’re destined for bigger stuff, you help people and kick ass, it’s one of the things I love so much about you.”  
          “you think I should join them then?  
          “I don’t know, what I do know is you’re not going to stay on this island forever”  
          “they’re probably the only people strong enough to help me find shaun, I can’t forget about my son in all this ”  
          “I wish I could help more”  
          “you help more than enough” she paused to think “I don’t trust them, they think too black and white for me”  
          “I don’t trust them either, I’ve done plenty of stuff I’m not proud of and I probably deserve whatever’s coming for me but I won’t let me and mine get wiped out just because of what we are”  
          “I won’t let that happen, you heard me part of the deal was that you and Goodneighbour are left well alone”  
          “and we’ll all sit there in a little bubble whilst the rest of the Commonwealth goes to shit under the Brotherhood of Sodomy. No I won’t do that, I’ve sat too many times and just watched whilst people like that push around the little guy”  
          “I’ll never stand by them whilst they ruin the lives of people who don't deserve it, you have my word on that”  
          “I don’t need your word on it, I know you wouldn't do that anyway”  
          “I think they’re the only shot I’ve got at finding shawn”  
          “yea”  
          “yea” for a while they just laid there in the warm water, Hancock rubbed at her shoulders and evening drew in with a display of wonderful sunset colours. The wind started to chill leaving the water cold.  
          Together they dressed and made their way back towards home, hand in hand as the cold air drew in. Inside Harry made coffee and Hancock vanished, she finished up the drink and could hear banging and swearing from her bedroom, curious she pushed open the door to see the wall half smashed and pulled apart. She smiled and put down the mug before walking over to help him make their two rooms become one big one, Hancock quickly going from angry and cursing to laughing as they tugged and smashed together, eventually ending up having a sword fight with two planks of wood. Exhausted from all that work they collapsed onto their bed, breathing heavily, that night they made love slowly, totally exploring each others bodies. She thought Hancock seemed a little surprised as her hands happily stroked his figure until he finally relaxed into it and let her touch him all over at the same time returning the favour. After they both fell back to the mattress, sweating and panting they tangled their naked bodies together and fell asleep in each other's arms in their bed, in their room. It was a perfect day and a chance for both of them to forget the fucked up world outside their happy little bubble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a sort bit of fluff today... Hancock is so romantic!


	14. Dragged Apart and Thrown Back Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry gives Danse her answer.

          Danse returned with a fair bit less pomp and circumstance, someone in the ranks must have decided their little island wasn’t a threat so it was just him dropped off by a vertibird instead of a small percentage of the brotherhood armed to the teeth. Unsurprisingly he was perfectly on time down to the last second. Harry had sat with her pip boy raised counting down, much to Hancock’s amusement despite how on edge they both felt. They knew that today would mark the end of their glorious isolation and the entrance back into the post war hell. This time coffee was made waiting for him and they gathered around the table (two of them sat and Danse hovering over them stood in his power armour),  
          “I shall dispense with pleasantries, what is your answer Miss Monroe?”  
          “What is the is the decision on what I asked about?”  
          “About your ghoul and his little town, yes it will be left alone”  
          “Then my answer is yes, what happens now?”  
          “The vertibird is waiting and will take us both to the prydwin as soon as you are ready to go”  
          “Can I say goodbye” she asked, looking over at the ghoul with sadness in her eyes. He would be going back to Goodneighbour and neither of them were sure when they would meet again,  
          “If you must, I’ll give you some time alone” he left them there and they turned to each other. Hancock stood and made his way over, taking her by the shoulders with a gentle rub and pulling her up into an embrace, her head fell onto his shoulder and her breath tickled his neck sending shivers down his spine,  
          “So this is goodbye” Hancock said  
          “Not forever”  
          “And you won’t let them turn your head no matter how shiny their guns?”  
          “I promise, the second they do something I don’t like I’ll leave”  
          “And you’ll find your way back to me right?” he asked, reluctant to let her go at all  
          “Always” they both stood there in silence, arms wrapped around each other for longer than they should have but eventually she had to pull away from him and his arms almost physically ached for her. Without a word she left and he waited until he heardthe roar of the engines of the vertibird firing up and it was too late for him to stop her, that was the only way he felt safe to go outside and watch as it took her away. He packed up the last of his stuff, popped a couple of mentats and headed out on his long walk back to Goodneighbour.

 

          After shaking off the tears Harry turned her head away from all that mushy stuff, she had to be a soldier now and they didn't exactly do mushy stuff now did they? The flight to the Prydwen was just long enough to get her head back in the game, she'd clearly let herself lose that edge in all the happiness. Once aboard Danse ushered her to a room on the command deck, near the front and almost entirely windows it had a great view of the city below, perfect in case of a surprise attack but she suspected it was more about surveying their land. A tall and imposing man stood at the far end, his back to them. Danse cleared his throat and the man turned revealing his rough but young face, a big scar running down one side, as with most of the soldiers she’d met since waking up, he was handsome but his eyes had a madness and intensity that scared her a little,  
          “Sir this is….” Danse began but was quickly cut off with a raised hand  
          “No need for introductions paladin Danse, I know who this is” said the imposing stranger as he stepped closer to Harriette, looking her up and down. Thankfully she'd put her vault suit and all her armour back on that morning, that was when it really sunk in and all felt truly real, Hancock had hovered at the door looking sad, she felt a pang at the thought of him and she almost started to regret her decision.  
          “I am Elder Maxson, all you need to know right now is that I am in charge, this is my ship. You will report back to me any information you find concerning the institute.” he went on like this for a while, asking questions, asking the same questions again just to be sure. His voice was deep and his demeanour tough, it would have to be to be in charge of this many people, only he seemed to use intimidation to control them where Hancock would have used mutual respect (ok and maybe a little fear). He gave her commands in his overbearing way, explaining what her role was likely to be. The long and short of it was that she was to report to Lancer Captain Kells unless she had any information about the institute, then it would go straight to him she would join the ranks as a knight despite not having worked her way up, this had been at Danses recommendation. Oh and Danse was to be her mentor, apparently because they already had history and he was good at his job, she still didn’t trust him even now but guessed she was stuck with him. On the bright side her first mission sounded like fun.

          “Wahooooo” she shouted, standing in her shiny, new power armour aboard a vertibird firing the massive gun at the behemoth below. This place really was crawling with super mutants, they all looked like ants from up here so she couldn't help but think of crawling as the minigun swiveled around hardly missing a shot when there were so many targets on the street below. Danse stood beside her firing his laser rifle at anything and everything with surprising accuracy and occasionally announcing “Outstanding” when she made a shot or one of the supermutants fell down dead. It didn't take long between the two of them and a second vertibird to take down the behemoth and their machine set down in the pre-war ruins of fort strong’s small town. At some point this place had been decimated, all that remained of the buildings were remnants of walls jutting out of the ground like broken teeth, off in the distance the fort stood proudly with barely a scratch on it. That was their target and the mass of supermutants in front of them were all that stood in their way,  
          “Let's do this” she shouted to Danse over the sound of off target gunfire and the vertibird propellers before jumping from the flying machine. They both ran for cover either side of the main road firing as they ran, she threw a series of grenades, grabbing the sniper rifle between and aiming a high velocity bullet at any of the angry hulking monsters heads before throwing another grenade, Danse shot anything that came within range landing lazer shot on almost every attempt. When Harry (AKA Knight Monroe) ran out of grenades she pulled out her missile launcher, she was pretty reluctant to get too close to the muties yet so long range, explosive weapons were the best bet. It was tough but together they soon got down to the last two and she charged at them firing her shotgun until they were full of holes.   She looked at the carnage around her and sighed, she still always felt bad killing supermutants after all they talk and think like people, a lot of them were people once. Then again she had a strict rule in any fight that had kept her going so far, if it tries to kill you, turn around and try to kill it right back.  
          Their main goal all along had been the fort itself and inside the air hung with a silent mist of dust, they could hear the mutants moving about, muttering to each other or even to themselves, they attempted to sneak along the corridors as quietly as possible knowing that supermutants have incredible hearing, dust scattering under their feet. They managed to kill a few stealthily but eventually one alerted the others and they came running, it was a tough fight and without Harry noticing they ended up separated. She killed every mutant within a 50 foot radius and set off to find her superior officer hoping he was ok. A groan alerted her to his hiding place, an old broom closet in which he was scrunched on the ground in a small pool of blood,  
          “Oh god are you ok?” she whispered with a quiet gasp, Danse attempted to sit up straight and winced before flopping back down  
          “My power armour” he muttered in a strained voice gesturing at his right side, she gently moved his arm away to see a panel of his armour jutting out at an impossible angle, it must have broken off and impaled him “he stood on me and just kept hitting me in the same spot over and over, I shot him in the leg and he jumped back, that's when I crawled in here”  
          “A stimpak won't do any good with it still in there, I'm going to have to pry it out then stimpak you” he nodded with a slight wince while she took a moment to think of the best way to do this, “ok, here's the plan, I give you the stimpak and I pry this off you as best I can, you apply the stimpak as quickly as possible once it's loose”  
          She took a deep breath, planted her feet either side of the broken panel and pulled with all her might, Danse had locked his jaw shut but still made muffled noises as the thing tore at his skin. Eventually it moved free with the sickening squelch of ripped flesh, blood covering the floor once more as it spilled from the reopened wound. Danse shoved in the needle with a grunt, trying his hardest not to show his pain but the sweat pouring from his brow gave him away. She watched as the wound started to heal, slowly at first but getting faster, a Stimpak would never fully heal something like this, the new flesh would be weak and tear easily but for a soldier like Danse it was enough to keep him moving. As soon as he could stand he pried the rest of the busted panel loose and threw it away, despite protestations about his safety he insisted on carrying out the rest of the mission. So they did even as he limped relying entirely on his busted up power armour to stay upright. They cleared the place of supermutants and whilst looking for more they even found a huge stock room of mini nukes.

          As soon as they were back aboard the prydwin she insisted that Danse go to the sick bay, she intended to go to the debriefing on both their behalves and explain that Danse was unable to make it. Maxson wasn’t happy about him not being present but there was little he could do, after all the two of them had done a far better job than he expected and Danse had been injured in the field. Still the Elder wasn’t happy that Harriette had made such a decision for him and even less happy when she gave him a short dressing down about the idea of not giving Danse the best care as soon as possible. If he thought she would listen to him without ever talking back he would have to rethink her place in the brotherhood.

          The doctor kept Danse for a few days and Harry spent quite some time at his bedside, it was nice to get to talk to him without having a war in the way and they had the opportunity to swap a lot of stories about their past and childhoods. She avoided mentioning too many specifics about her upbringing, she still hadn’t told Hancock about that and didn't really intend to tell this soldier about it at all. After proving that he could walk perfectly well and bend fine and do a long list of other things he was discharged and they could go and collect their next mission. It was an easy one, pretty much a fetching mission and that was the way her time was taken up for the next three weeks, one simple mission after another. It was almost boring it was so repetitive, that was apart from the killing things she did rather enjoy the killing things well at least until the rush wore off. She slowly gained trust in Danse too, he really wasn't as bad as he first appeared and after so many missions and near misses she knew she could count on him to have her back. She couldn’t help but think how Hancock would feel about her growing closer to the handsome soldier no matter how platonic, she couldn’t imagine he’d be happy but he didn’t really have any say in who she was friends with.

          Danse waited outside the changing area for Harry and they both fell into step beside each other marching along the gangways of the Prydwen. It had taken some time but she’d become used to the routine on the ship, she’d even got used to the noise of the engines and the busy activity just near her bed. She still often woke up to find herself reaching out for Hancock when he wasn’t there and found it difficult to sleep without his warm body next to her. But her friendship with the soldier was some comfort, they’d started to work well together as a team and she looked forward to seeing him each day.  
          Captain Kells waited for them in the command room, a stern look on his face as usual, they both saluted to him (something she knew she would always hate),  
          “Paladin, Knight,” he said nodding towards each of them, “Knight, I understand you have certain connections to a place called Goodneighbour here in the Commonwealth”  
          “That’s right sir”  
          “In which case I believe that you would be the best person to retrieve something from there, I am aware that our soldiers may not be entirely welcome there however you will be. There is a robot by the designation KL-E-O who has something we require, your orders are to retrieve that item by any means necessary”  
          “We both know I’m just going to buy it right? this whole by any means necessary thing means nothing to me”  
          “Use whatever methods you see fit, I am not concerned with how this rests on your conscious”  
          “Of course sir, may I request a few days leave to stay with… family… since I’ll be there already”  
          “Very well, you may have two days, the Paladin will inform me of the exact time your mission ends and you will be picked up exactly 48 hours from then”  
          “Thank You sir” she said with yet another salute, if there was a way to salute sarcastically she was determined to find it.  
          Once back outside the room her and Danse fell back into step, she could feel his intensity as he walked beside her and could easily imagine what he was thinking, he didn’t make a secret of his dislike of Hancock and she had just lied about who she would be visiting whilst Danse knew exactly who she was really going to see. In all honesty she hated putting the soldier in such a position where he had to choose between lying to his superior or letting them know that he had recommended someone who had a close relationship with a ghoul,  
          “You know I-”  
          “Please” he interrupted her “I would rather not know about your relationship with… Goodneighbour, I intend to keep plausible deniability should… certain facts… come to light”  
          “No need to be so awkward, all I was going to say was thank you, for keeping my… secret and I’m sorry to put you in this position”  
          “Are you sleeping with him?”  
          “I thought you didn’t want to know”  
          “You're right I don’t, but… have you thought about the ramifications”  
          “What Maxon being mad at me?”  
          “No… em…” he was clearly uncomfortable with this conversation, she planned to stop it as soon as possible but her curiosity just wouldn’t let her stop listening “the ramifications to your health”  
          “That’s really none of your business” so that was it, all of the brotherhood of psychopaths thought everyone but them were riddled with diseases, she would never let them brainwash her like that though it did start her thinking.  
          The vertibird dropped them at the edge of the old city of boston and they disembarked and disappeared into the quiet rubble and broken buildings. A small band of raiders gave them some trouble along the way but it was easy enough to deal with them, Danse chided her repeatedly for not wearing power armour but she didn’t see the point, Goodneighbour was, other than sanctuary, the closest thing she had to a home and the soldier didn’t seem to understand that. After pushing through the gate she was immediately approached by people, they wished her well and asked questions whilst Danse kept his distance with a look of deep distaste on his face,  
          “I’ll go say hello to Hancock and be right back”  
          “May I remind you that you are currently on a mission”  
          “I know but he’ll already know I’m here by now”  
          “How could he possibly know that?”  
          “He knows, trust me… you underestimate him too much”  
          “And what will I do whilst you see your… thing?”  
          “You could take a look around, but be careful what you say out here these people are my friends but they're not yours”  
          “I will wait right here”  
          “Suit yourself”  
          Inside the old state house she could hear the guards chatting away, each one greeting her warmly as she climbed the stairs, It made her smile to herself thinking that before now every single one of these guards had tried it on with her, shouting flirtatious things at her but now she assumed they knew she belonged to their boss. On the face of it she didn’t approve but really his jealous over protection of her made her feel good, safe and loved, plus if it came to it she knew she could probably win in a fight with him. Pushing open one of the double doors she looked around and saw him silhouetted against the open window just across from his desk,  
          “Hancock?” she said quietly through a barely opened door, he turned and his face immediately brightened  
          “Harry” was all he said, she pushed the door open, ran across the room and threw herself into his arms wrapping her legs around his waist and covering his face and neck with little kisses. He let out an almost growl and grabbed her hair at the roots forcing her head back and biting and kissing at her neck, the feeling shot right down to her crotch and she started fumbling with the zip at the front of her suit but it felt like her hands were shaking. Hancock released her hair and lifted her higher on his body, leaving one hand comfortable on her arse the other pulled the zip down to her navel, she wriggled desperately from it and he took the opportunity to nip at her collarbone and chest making her moan again. Dropping her so that her butt just rested on the edge of the wood he pushed papers and glasses and drug paraphernalia from his desk and pushed her down tearing off his own clothes as she undid her bra. The second he saw her breasts he pounced, the roughness of his face sending electric sparks through her as he took one nipple between his teeth and bit down a little less than gently, she groaned and that just spurred him on. His hands were pulling at the flag he wore at his waist and undoing his fly, pulling what was left of her vault suit down along with her panties. It was all madness and fever and took only 30 seconds until both were naked and with a guttural groan he was inside her and thrusting. His eyes burned with a passion as he looked down at her panting and writhing her insides calling out for more, each move of his hips sending ripples of ecstasy through her and making her shout louder and louder. He put his hand around her neck and squeezed just a little, her head swam and in her little world it made every sensation sharper, a simple, whispered “yes” escaped her lips and he squeezed more only intensifying each golden ripple.

          As he thrust harder and faster she could feel the tension building in her and all her muscles contracted, by now every other thought had left her head, she was blankness and filling up with hot, burning pleasure as his hard cock slammed into her again and again and her head swam. With a scream her toes curled and her body shook as the dam broke and she came around him, he did the same before collapsing on top of her on the desk and peppering her neck with soft kisses. She lay there in a state of euphoria for a while, his head resting on her breast and occasionally lifting to give her little kisses. It was some time before she came down from that state, he had already popped a few mentats and a hit of jet to try and join her there but hadn’t managed it, instead he just ran his hands listlessly along her naked body and planted kisses anywhere he wanted whilst she made little happy noises. Danse is going to kill me she mused distantly her head still full of clouds, then snapped upright forcing her ghoul to fall off her,  
          “Oh god, i can’t believe we just did that”  
          “I can… it’s just my animal magnetism”  
          “No, this is a problem… oh god we were so loud” she was starting to panic and couldn’t quite form the words to explain why,  
          “Nothing to worry about” Hancock slurred and he tried to pull her back down into an embrace “people round here wont care”  
          “It’s not that… oh shit… Danse is right down there” it was his turn to snap straight up, quickly sobering “he’ll have heard the whole thing”  
          “Shit why didn’t you warm me?” by this point he was grabbing up his clothes, she thought distantly that it was funny watching him try to run around the room, pull on his trousers and slip one arm into his shirt all at the same time  
          “I didn’t exactly get chance did I? Oh shit he can hear us now” she turned bright red and dived for her vault suit, slipping it on, zipping it up and running for the door,  
          “Wait… is this it? are you going again?” the fear in his voice at losing her made her crack, she started laughing a deep manic belly shaking laugh at the absurdity of the whole thing, it wasn’t long before Hancock joined in and they both fell together to the floor laughing until they cried. she wiped the happy tears from her eyes and kissed him on the forehead,  
          “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon and I’ll explain everything then” she said only just holding back the fit of laughter. He pulled her in for one last passionate kiss, this time moving her lips and gently sucking on the bottom one before releasing her, she wasn’t laughing anymore and left him there, half dressed with a big grin on his face. Fahrenheit passed her on the stairs and gave her a knowing, one eyebrow raised look before entering the office to shouts about knocking and privacy.  
          She barely made it out the door before Danse grabbed her arm and pulled,  
          “Ow you’re hurting me” she protested and noticed Hancock’s neighbourhood watch raising their guns ready, she subtly shook her free hand at them and they lowered the weapons but still looked ready to shoot the soldier at a moment's notice (they were a lot more loyal to the Mayor then she gave them credit for). Danse didn’t appear to even notice and continued to drag her into a secluded alleyway (Goodneighbour had plenty of those), he almost threw her into a wall and stood over her a look of rage turning his face red,  
          “So you’re sleeping with that… thing… then” he barked at her  
          “That is none of your business” she snapped back, he really did know how to make her angry  
          “It is when we’re on a mission and it is when you told a direct lie to a fellow officer”  
          “I did no such thing” she thought back to the conversation wit Kells that morning, it hadn't exactly been a direct lie, more a twisting of the truth,  
          “The medical exam, the proctor asked if you have had… sex… with anything none human” he whispered the word sex and it softened her rage how adorable he was… only a little though, she was still white hot with it  
          “Oh for fucks sake Danse I didn’t lie, Hancock is as human as you or I”  
          “He is not, he’s an abomination and a junkie to boot”  
          “He’s twice the man you’ll ever be and I’d be careful how loudly you shout about junkies or ghouls around here… or anywhere for that matter”  
          “Exactly, this run down piss hole is your home and these low lives are who you throw your lot in with… God Harriette you could be so much more than this”  
          “No I couldn’t, these people you call low lives are my friends, they might seem like nothing to an outsider but they are kind and fierce and loyal to a fault, they are the people who have been broken and bruised and abandoned by society yet still have the strength to go on and that means something to me. Whilst you and yours in their ivory tower sit on technology like a dragon sits on it’s gold and look down at these people, they are struggling, taking each day as it comes and surviving and sharing the little they do have with those who need it more. I’d throw my lot in with people like that any day and not regret my decision for a second” Danse just looked at her unable to fight against her passion, after all it was the first thing he noticed about her and the thing that kept drawing him ever closer. He just turned away and let out a deep, emotion filled sigh before turning back and talking in a calmer tone,  
          “I’m aware of what this means to you, I’m also aware that any discipline you receive through the brotherhood would reflect badly on me. I no longer have plausible deniability and that puts me in an uncomfortable position, I want to hear nothing more about this, am I clear”  
          “As crystal, now let’s get this over with”  
          They did end up buying the ever so important item from KL-E-O who eyed up Danse with a mixture of caution and attraction (again he didn’t notice, she was a robot after all and the brotherhood frowned on… well everything) she gave them a big discount telling Harry it was “because your drama is the best entertainment I've had in ages” which made Harry turn a bright shade of crimson. she walked Danse to the pick up sight rolling her eyes at him insisting that it was too dangerous for her, she then returned to Goodneighbour, crossing the threshold with a relieved sigh.

          Hancock watched as Danse pulled her aside, he spotted her hand shaking at the guards (apparently they listen to her more than him, he’d have loved them to blow the man's head off before he even knew what had happened). He didn’t see Danse throw her against a wall, if he had he’d probably have hacked his head off with his flip knife in a fit of rage, he did however hear the argument, everyone did, they weren’t exactly quiet. He wasn’t sure what to do now, it was unlikely Danse would be able to safely walk the streets of Goodneighbour for some time, half of him was glad of that but he knew that for Harry’s sake if nothing else he’d have to sort something out. God he was proud of that little speech, she had hit the nail right on the fucking head and he couldn’t have put it better himself, she got it, she understood exactly why this place and these people, hell the whole of the dam commonwealth, deserved her. He hoped he could deserve her too… he’d noticed something in the handsome soldier then, something in the way he looked at her and spoke to her, he knew it wouldn’t exactly be long before he had serious competition. He knew she was way too good for him he accepted that on the surface but deep down he hated it and was really scared she’d see it too and run off with the pretty boy, if she did he had no intention of standing in the way of her happiness.  
          He couldn’t help but watch the gate for her, he’d tried to do some work but quickly gave up and just watched at the window, at one point Fahrenheit had come in and tried to coax him into working but he barely noticed. He smiled as Harry walked through the red door that served as the town's entrance and took a moment to lean against it, before she got the chance to look up at him he was back in his chair and by the time she got up the stairs he had his feet up on the table and a jet inhaler nonchalantly resting in his hand,  
          “Hey beautiful” he greeted her as she walked through the door,  
          “Hey sexy” she said back and walked across the room to flop into his lap, he could feel her deflate against him,  
          “Stressed?” he asked, putting the inhaler down and using that hand to rub her shoulders,  
          “Mmmm” she agreed, leaning into his hand  
          “You smell like sex you know” she gave him a meaningful look  
          “Who’s fault is that?”  
          “Well luckily I have a way to deal with both problems”  
          “Wait… you haven’t?”  
          “I’ve been busy whilst you’ve been away and a couple of weeks ago a pre war ghoul rocked into town and turns out he'd been a plumber before the bombs… I paid him well to hook up the old pipe system to a new tank and bath and as if by magic it all works perfectly”  
          “You have a bath here?” she bounced up and down excitedly and he had to grab her waist to stop her  
          “Careful, you’ll do me an injury and on your favourite part too”  
          “Oh shit… sorry”  
          “It’s ok, let’s just save the bouncing up and down on my cock for later ok?  
          “How much later?”  
          “God you’re a tease… I’ve got more by the way”  
          “More cocks?” that made him laugh  
          “More surprises, although I’m sure more cocks could be arranged, I think a fair number of the neighbourhood watch actually complained when I let them know you were off limits, i’m sure they’d oblige”  
          “Tempting but I think I’m good with yours for now” he laughed, this easy banter was just what he needed, he’d been working hard catching up on stuff he'd missed and getting the place ready for her and it nearly was. Last time they were here she’d given him the basement to provide shelter for those in need, this time around she deserved something and he knew exactly what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be two chapters but I came to the conclusion that one was too shot and had all the feels and none of the fun smut and the other had too much fun smut. So here you go you sinners, enjoy this emotional roller coaster.
> 
> And thank you all for the comments and Kudos, I'm really happy the last chapter went down well!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hancock has a present for Harry, well quite a few actually! 
> 
> This has the first sex scene from his view point :)

          Hancock was right about there being more, she’d never really known where he’d slept before, Fahr had told her he didn’t really sleep and she could believe that but felt a bit disappointed there was no where they could share, well he’d made somewhere and it was gorgeous in it’s post war dishevelment. It was a big room with the same crumbling plaster and peeling wallpaper as the rest of the place but, unlike everywhere else the furniture seemed nearly new. there was a four poster bed with clean sheets, fluffy pillows and a duvet (a real life honest to goodness duvet) and it was huge, so big she wondered if hancock had been serious about inviting in a few of the neighbourhood watch. In one corner was a desk, small and white and mostly covered in chems and in another was a tall wardrobe fit for a queen or something. There was a full length mirror hung up on the back of another door, she scrunched up her face and looked at the door they came in, then back at the other,  
          “Where does that go?” she asked, pointing at the offending wood  
          “Ahh well, that’s the important question isn’t it” in answer he walked over and opened it for her, “it’s not finished, still got to find a decent sink”  
          “Ask sturges” she said before thinking she was so taken aback by it, an en suite and all in shining cracked marble, damage showed sure but… well she didn’t ever dream of anything like this before the bombs fell and here it was some real luxury in the post war world,  
          “Ask who?” she ignored him and just walked past into the bathroom her face like she’d found nirvana “glad you like it”  
          “I have… questions”  
          “Well stick the tap on and you can ask them before you take this” he passed her a jet inhaler and she ran her fingers over the plastic “jet and water work so well together, you have nooo idea”  
          “Well first question is how?” she twisted the tap marked hot and near boiling water rushed out, immediately steaming up the room, she turned the next and cold came pouring from it. she sat on the side and used one of her hands to mix the two together,  
          “That pre war plummer, he came in and had a look around, found a working boiler in a blocked off part of the cellar, said it was old, like not long after the place was built sort of old but it can run on wood and should only need feeding every few days and the place will have hot water literally on tap”  
          “And what were these rooms before?”  
          “Nothing, just closed up old rooms, I’ve said before there’s loads of them in this place that could do with clearing out and using, I didn’t even know this was here, all this marble was just sitting there in the back of this place waiting for someone to find it”  
           “What would it have been if I hadn’t come along?”  
          “Nothing, I didn’t really have the time or the inclination to clear out more of the place until I needed it”  
          “So this wouldn’t have ended up as another room for the drifters?”  
          “Nope, that’s the beauty of it no one loses, Daisy made a pile of caps getting me all this stuff, though she did almost have a heart attack when I asked about the bedding. There’s been people working on fixing up the furniture since Cait stayed here… I think I didn’t know it at the time but it was meant for you all along. And on top of all of that an old ghoul down on his luck got to make a huge pile of caps doing what he loves! I told him I might get him in to plumb up the whole of Goodneighbour at this rate, an in house plummer would be a great thing I doubt even diamond city has one of those”  
          “So, everyone wins?”  
          “Yes”  
          “And you?”  
          “Me? I get a comfy bed and a chance to see that look on your face… look, I figure you’re this big amazing hero saving the world and kicking ass but not really thinking of yourself, I figure from now on it’s my job to look after you whilst you look after everyone else”  
          “Oh Hancock, it’s perfect”  
          “There’s one more thing but it’s a bit more selfish and it can wait till after your bath, come on, jump in”  
          “Joining me?”  
          “Nahh, I think i’m just gonna watch” and he did, she felt a little nervous flutter cleaning herself whilst he sat there staring with images running around in his head, his eyes followed her hands and the soap as she ran it along her arms and legs, as she tenderly washed her breasts but she faltered at washing in between her legs whilst he stared. She looked at him bright red and he realised what the problem was, god why was she so shy about these things? when he stood up she expected him to leave but he didn’t he just took the soap out of her hand and did it himself. She moaned and clutched the sides of the tup as he ran soapy hands around her folds, finding her clit with no trouble he took a lot of time making sure it was good and clean with her letting noises escape her lips with every movement. She didn’t even notice when the soap stopped being involved, it could have been a while before he plunged two fingers inside her and made her cry out, he started moving them rhythmically, gently brushing her clit with his thumb. She felt shudders down her spine and her muscles tightening, by now she knew what was coming but he pulled away first, she let out a little disappointed noise,  
           “Well you’re all clean now” he said in explanation, really not good enough explanation,  
          “But … but…?” she asked her eyes pleading  
          “God that look on your face, if only I could bottle it it’d be a perfect aphrodisiac. Now stop whining and take your medicine” he said with a chuckle as he passed her the jet. She pouted slightly, she’d rather have an orgasm but Jet wasn’t a bad replacement, still, he’d left her frustrated and she didn’t know why.

          The chem left her watching the light glinting off the water, carefully moving her body to make it dance just so… he watched the joy on her face, for someone he wanted to constantly do horribly dirty things to she really was childlike sometimes. Hell for someone who could and would shoot someone between the eyes from more than 100 meters away she was surprisingly sensitive, for someone who did all the dirty stuff right back the mere mention of sex had her blushing and for someone so strong and invincible she was in desperate need of protecting. It was like she was everything at once and it kept him guessing just how she’d react, which side of her he’d see in any given situation. He wondered to himself if all women were like this when you really get to know them or if he’d just fallen for one in a million. He was so high she looked like she was sparkling, deep down he knew it was just a chem caused exaggeration of the water on her skin but he was happy to let his head think it was stardust and every time she looked over at him he could see a little of it in her eyes.  
          He came down quicker, it’s always the case, the more you do the quicker it wears off and anyway he didn’t feel like himself unless he was a little high. He left her in the bath and went to find the other thing he’d got her (well it was partly for him, he knew she’d look so damn amazing) he’d asked daisy to keep an eye out for a dress that really was something special and dam she’d delivered, that woman could get her hands on anything. He hung it up on the bed and went back through to the bathroom where he could hear Harry splashing as though she was getting out. He walked in to find her drying herself and she looked up and smiled at him,  
          “You feeling ok?” he asked, she’d only done jet a handful of times by that point and he still worried it might suddenly get a bit much for her  
          “Fantastic, I’m so relaxed now”  
          “Good, I’ve got you a surprise”  
          “More?”  
          “Yup, you feel lucky yet”  
          “I’m always lucky with you” he made a face at her, he both loved and hated all that soppy stuff, though with her it was probably 60/40 leaning towards loving it  
          “Don’t get dressed yet” she looked at him confused and put the towel around herself, after all he was fully clothed so it was hardly fair. Hancock covered her eyes and directed her into the adjoining bedroom for the big reveal, she opened her eyes and gasped running over to touch the green silk satin of the 1930’s style dress. She ran the fabric through her hands, similar to what he’d done when he first saw it, mind you he’d been picturing running it along her curves. She wanted to put it on and made to get her underwear from the bathroom, he snatched it right out of her hands before she'd even removed the towel wrapped around her,  
          “Nope, this is a no underwear allowed dress I’m afraid, only ever worn alone” Harry seemed to be thinking about this for a moment before a dirty smile crossed her face, well that was new and he had to say he liked it, a lot. she slipped the thin, heavy fabric over her naked body, the way it just slipped along her skin made his breath catch in his throat and the way the fabric clung to her every muscle as she spun around made him choke a bit.

          It was backless, with tiny spaghetti straps and a shape that just highlighted everything (an oxymoron that somehow actually worked) he could really feel the crotch of his pants tightening as he looked at the pale, soft skin of her back contrasted against the deep green, shiny material and the sway in her hips as she spun around. He’d planned on taking her out to the third rail as soon as she was ready but fuck that, he couldn’t hold this in any longer, he marched over and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder and dropping her onto the bed. She laid in front of him, moving her hips ever so slightly and starting to spread her legs and lift the hem of the dress, god this woman was impossible, he didn’t know how he lived without his cock inside her constantly. He shook his head at her and she looked at him confused for a moment before he flipped her over and pulled her down so that her knees were on the floor and her body laid on the bed, arse up and god what a sight it was.

          She seemed to be moving to get up and he’d have none of that, he put one firm had on the small of her back and held her down, with the other he gently stroked the fabric over the softness of her lovely backside. The way this dress moved over her, nothing between their skin and his but this tiny bit of fabric that moved like solid water he pulled back his hand, aimed and smacked her with a magnificent crack that rang around the room, she let out a surprised little yelp that made his dick dance. He’d have worried he’d gone too far if she hadn’t moved herself to push her butt further into his hand, well she must like it, he ran his hand over her again so softly, so gently, she relaxed and let out a soft moan. Prefect, he grinned and pulled his hand back again, he could have sworn other people would have heard the slap as his hand met the fabric that barely covered her, she made a noise that was almost a scream but quickly turned into a moan, he followed with his own gravelly moan and rubbed her other cheek. A smack to that, harder this time and she yelped again, god what a glorious noise, he had to record it some time, this time it was followed by him hitching the skirt up to her waist so that he could see her bare behind and the delicate folds of her vagina. Another smack and she yelled out in pain and tried to wriggle away, he thought about letting her go but she quickly relaxed and stuck her arse even further out like she was begging him to go on.

          He ran his fingers along the tender red cheeks, the feel of her skin like tiny electric sparks in his fingertips, he ran his hand down the folds of her genitals then pushed his fingers inside her, god she was wet, so she really was loving this. He moved his hand so that his little finger rested just where the skin met and his fingers moved about inside her, she let out a string of moans growing louder each time and he had to bite his lip and think of something else to stop himself from pouncing on her right then. No, not yet, he wanted to draw this out a little longer, he could feel her muscles tightening around his fingers and by now the groans were bordering on screams, he pulled his hand away and heard her make and whiny little downhearted noise that had made a beeline straight for his hard cock, she really did make this difficult.

          He spanked her tender flesh again and again until she was bright red, interspersing it with little explorations with his fingers or tongue, each time bringing her to the brink of orgasm and moving away, each time met with the same little noise that just made his dick want to burst. Eventually he couldn’t take anymore, if she groaned again he was going to come and he didn’t intend to do that anywhere but inside her. He pulled his trousers off without even properly undoing them, his Jacket was already on the floor so he just wore his open shirt and she had her dress hitched up to her waist. Taking his stiff cock in his hand he eased inside her, she let out a satisfied whimper, she was so warm and tight and wet he had to concentrate or he would have just finished right away.

          Biting his lip he started to gently move in and out of her, slow at first but she still groaned and wriggled against him he had to hold his breath and close his eyes or this would be over before it started. He could feel her wrapped around his cock and she kept moving her hips in time with him allowing him to go deeper, he quickly opened his eyes as he sped up to see her perfect form moving against his. There was no way he’d last much longer but thankfully he felt her tightening and loosening rhythmically around him and he knew she was close too, that and the escalating noises she was making as she wiggled under his hand. He moved the restraining hand and grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling her head up so that her back arched and he pulled back and slammed into her, she let out a high pitched scream and he felt her body shaking as she came. He gave in to it and felt the familiar white hot pleasure snap through him and take all of his other senses with it, losing all control he let go of her hair not knowing if her head fell back down to the bed or not.

          A moment later and it had ebbed and he looked down at her prone form, at some point her legs must have tensed because rather than her knees being tucked under her they had straightened out either side of him. Her hands still gripped the quilt, her head laid on the side and her eyes were closed, he tried to rouse her and only got a collection of nonsensical syllables from her, sometimes he wished he could be a woman for a day just to experience the female orgasm and understand what that little world of ecstasy felt like, man what a trip that would be.

          He helped her take off the dress and moved her about on the bed so her head was on a pillow, she offered little resistance but was really very little help. Laying down on his back beside her he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close, resting his head on hers, his mouth and the bit where his nose should have been resting in her hair and breathing in the smell of her deeply, They laid like that until she was able to talk,  
          “Wow” was the first thing she managed to say  
          “Could say the same to you sister” he mumbled into her hair, a pause, he imagined thinking would be quite difficult right now  
          “Where’d you learn that” she just about slurred out he laughed  
          “Just out and about”  
          “No, seriously, did you have someone who taught you all this... sex stuff?”  
          “Not really, I just, pick stuff up, I know women's bodies, they’re all different yet all the same too and then I do what I like and if she doesn’t like it she’ll tell me. So far you seem to like everything”  
          “I’m not sure like is a strong enough word, what if I don’t like something?”  
          “You tell me, I stop and we try something else… unless you have any suggestions of course, I’d love to hear them” she looked thoughtful again  
          “I think I want to have sex with a woman”  
          “Woooh woooh slow down there tiger… just how many people have you have sex with?”  
          “You mean consensual right?”  
          “Wait… what?” he said jumping up to look straight into her eyes, his were burning with a terrible fire, like he intended to gut any man that even looked at her wrong  
          “I told you before that there’s a lot of stuff I haven’t told you about me”  
          “Do you not want to talk about it? I swear to god I will kill anyone…”  
          “Oh god Hancock relax they’ve probably been dead over 200 years”  
          “They? as in the none gendered form of they or the multiple form of they?”  
          “God you do have a knack for asking just the right questions” he didn’t answer her just looked at her sternly “the second one”  
          “Mother fucking ***** ***** ******* (author note, even though I just described a graphic sex scene even I’m not comfortable with some of the words Hancock yells here) ******** ********* on the ***** ****** earth”  
          “Wow… bloody hell, that’s some impressive swearing right there”  
          “Are you surprised? after what you just told me?”  
          “Look, Hancock, I’m tough, I’ve always been tough, there’s a lot you don’t know about me...about before the war… before Nate even. There’s no one, alive or machine, that knows about this stuff, Nate was the only person I ever told everything to and that was after we were married, well he was part of some of it. NO, NOT that part before you ask” she had such a serious look he thought it best not to interrupt her, “my point is that they’re all dead, everyone, and you… you're the only person who knows this little tidbit and the only person I have ever told this stuff that wasn’t directly involved”  
          “How come you haven’t told anyone else?”  
          “Well before, before the war I mean it was very… complicated… and I had nate to talk to about it. Now, well it’s not as fresh, not as hard to bear and I can look back at what I learnt from the whole fucked up thing. That and I don’t really trust anyone else, most people are more interested in me getting frozen into a cryo pod and losing my son you are honestly the only person who’s ever asked me about before”  
          “Want me to drop it and let you explain in your own time?”  
          “Please” silence hung between them for a while, neither unsure what to do next, Hancock broke it first,  
          “That aside how many people have you slept with?” she laughed which brought down the tension in the room and they both relaxed a little more, he pulled her closer, he wanted her to know it didn’t matter he loved her and the path she took getting there wasn't important,  
          “Two”  
          “Two before me?”  
          “Nope, two total, you and nate”  
          “Wow really… how?”  
          “Well before the bombs I had Nate, you know, Marriage and stuff, love no other and all that, so there was only him. After thawing out it hasn’t really been a priority, I didn’t really think about sex much until you… appeared in my life and stabbed a man for me”  
          “Ahh yea, Finn… stabbing him was the best decision of my life”  
          “What about you?”  
          “Me what?”  
          “Your magic number?”  
          “Oh fuck babe I’ve no idea… there’s whole months I can’t remember a scrap of so how the hell am I supposed to remember that?”  
          “I really don’t know how to react to that. You know Danse said something?”  
          “God do you have to bring him up now?” Hancock said with a look of distaste  
          “Well it’s been playing on my mind and really I should have thought about it before but… well it’s not cos you’re a ghoul or anything like that, more the whole losing the odd month, don’t know how many women you’ve been with thing…”  
          “What? Danse was asking if I’ve got any diseases?”  
          “Yea, I told him it’s none of his business but… well now I’m asking you and it kinda is my business”  
          “I’m clean, don’t know how but I am, every time I wake up from a bender I get a checkup with whatever doctors nearest, you know make sure I’ve still got a full set of grey matter, no internal bleeding… and STI’s, other than the odd, easily curable thing before I became a ghoul I’m always clean. Think it’s probably the ghouls being immune to a lot of diseases thing but it’s not really something we talk about down at the third rail… can you imagine it?” right on cue she started laughing  
          “Hi I’m the Mayor, can I talk to you about sex stuff” she mimicked  
          “I don’t sound like that!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was hard to write sex from the male angle since I've.... you know... never experienced it myself. So all you sinning guys out there feel free to tell me of I got it really wrong (oh god now I feel like I'm about to get a lot of inboxes with guys intimately describing what sex feels like... I am surprisingly ok with this)
> 
> Not sure if I should tag this one with none-con since it's mentioned while not actually being described in any way... what do you think?


	16. The Third Rail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A night out at the third rail turns bad (or good, depending on your view point) when a random drifter hits on Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So about the picture... I like doodling and I keep drawing things to do this this bad boy of a story so expect them to show up from time to time, I'm not the world's best artist and Harry ended up a bit skinnier than I would like but ahh well

         

 

          Harry was reluctant to get out of bed but she did only have two days and Hancock had got her that dress that made her feel like a movie star and he’d just shown her the shoes to go with it and they’re silver and sparkly, ok sold. Once again she tried to put on underwear with it and Hancock plucked it out of her hand, she sticked her tongue out at him but went along with it. She's not really used to this and she was pretty nervous about the idea of going out with just the beautiful, flimsy dress on, but also kind of excited, no one else knows so it's their dirty little secret. He couldn't take his eyes off her, the attention made her shy, and she couldn't look back, that is until he moved in close and ran his fingers down her cheek before settling them on her chin and pulling her face up to meet his in a long kiss,  
          “You look beautiful” he whispered as his face pulled away from hers, she just closed her eyes with a satisfied smile. His hand on the small of her back they set off, she feet a bit bad for the guards that looked at her with wide eyes as the two of them descend the staircase. Once outside she could feel everyone's eyes on her in the busy street, it was late but honestly Goodneighbour came alive at night and there were plenty of people to watch as the walked along, the satin sweeping the tops of her feet as it flowed around her. She could feel every gaze directed at the two of them and started to fidget, Hancock looked at her and smiled, taking a hand in his he wrapped the other arm around the hand he held,  
          “Relax, they're all jealous” he whispered into her ear before planting a soft kiss on her cheekbone. She felt a little steadier for his support and honestly she could imagine how they looked and she would have stared. He was of course in his usual garb looking half pirate half mob boss and her long hair was down and flowing in the breeze that chilled her and made her nipples stand, much to Hancock’s delight. It wasn't exactly a long trip, the third rail was down in an old subway station directly under the state house, Ham, the doorman greeted them professionally and didn’t even blink at her.  
          Downstairs and Magnolia sauntered up to them,  
          “Hancock” she said, offering her hand, he took it in his free hand and gave a little bow, Harry really loved it when he did that, made her imagine a proper English gentleman was under there somewhere, “and who is…. Harry, is that you?”  
          They knew her here but only from quick drinks or picking up the occasional bit of work, she was always in her vault suit, hair pinned back and probably dirty,  
          “My don't you look a doll, who knew?” Harry blushed a little before speaking up  
          “Magnolia how are you?”  
          “Well I'm much better for seeing the two of you, but especially you in that dress”  
          “Oh it's nothing compared to yours, everyone knows you're the most beautiful woman in the commonwealth”  
          “Now don't be modest, you could rival anyone, I wonder, do you have a voice to match?”  
          “I don’t know, I get terrible stage fright so I always have to be pretty drunk to sing” hancock had gone off to get the both of them drinks and sidled up and passed Harry a glass of whiskey,  
          “I thought they only did beer here?” she said, looking shocked at him  
          “One of the perks of being the Mayor, they have a few spare bottles of semi decent stuff for VIPs… here Magnolia, got to keep those pipes lubricated” he handed her the same drink as Harry. The description semi decent suited it well it wasn't quite awful nor was it quite good but generally it was an improvement on a lot of the booze in the commonwealth.  
          “Speaking of which I should get back, entertain the masses” magnolia said and with a light touch of Harry’s arm she headed up to the stage, winking at the two of them as she sang,  
          “She was flirting with you you know” Hancock said over the noise of the music, it was a busy night so they were pushed quite close together and she could feel… well it could have been the knife in his pocket,  
          “She was not”  
          “Trust me I know when that woman is flirting and that woman was flirting with you, leaves me with some pretty good images” he smiled to himself  
          “Have you and her… have you?”  
          “Do you want to know the truth about who I have and haven't fucked in this town?”  
          “I think so, only if I ask though, don't start pointing them out”  
          “Sure… yes I've slept with Magnolia, very sensual woman if you're really serious about sex with a woman, I would recommend her”  
          “I thought maybe Cait” hancock spluttered in his drink when she said this  
          “Well there's some more images… you sure that's a good idea? She's not exactly level headed right now”  
          “I'm not sure, just playing with some ideas”  
          “So am I… oh god so am I”

  
          The night went on and Harry felt increasingly comfortable, many people had come up to say hello to her and Hancock and she was even introduced to a few new people. She kinda liked the idea that there'd be some people out there who's first impression of her was movie star. Magnolia came over more between sets, Harry had to admit the singer was very obviously flirting with her and she quite liked it but apparently was terrible at flirting back, Hancock kept subtly laughing at her,  
          “Gotta go to the bathroom, you ok here?”  
          “You know pre war there was a drug called cocaine, it was like a white powder so people would say ‘I'm going to go powder my nose’ before they went off to do drugs in the toilets”  
          “Well in that case I'm going to go powder my nose” she laughed as he turned and left her leaning against the bar watching Magnolia sing. He'd been gone a while when a guy walked in, rough, stinking and clearly drunk he made a beeline for the bar, spotting Harry stood alone on the way. Her instincts kicked in immediately, she could feel him eyeing her while ordering a drink so she wasn’t exactly surprised when a pint appeared in front of her and whitecastle Harry gestured at the guy. She looked him up and down, he was one step away from raider, if she saw him out on the street she'd probably shoot him thinking he was,  
          “Not seen you here before” he said to her, looking pretty much straight down her top. He made her feel uncomfortable and she was glad she'd persuaded Hancock to let her bring a little flip knife tucked into the back of her dress.  
           “I don’t come here very often” she said, humouring him, at least until he did something really stupid,  
          “No, a girl like you probably got classier places to be… I'm glad you turned up now”  
          “Why is that?”  
          “Well see, I'm the mayor of this place and I've got a big bed that I could do with some help filling”  
          “And where is this bed exactly”  
          “Upstairs, I like to greet visitors to my town _personally_ ”  
          “Not interested”  
          “And why's that?” she scoffed at that, trying not to let this man in on the fact that she knew he was lying. Hancock appeared at the other side of the room, she could see his face turn to anger but the guy had his back to him,  
          “I'm not exactly available” she said to the stinking man, not taking her eyes off Hancock who was moving through the crowd towards them,  
          “What? You gay or something?”  
          “That's not really any of your business” this was just getting pathetic now, she'd given him plenty of chances to walk away with his dignity and now Hancock was at her side, his hand resting on the knife tucked into the small of her back,  
          “Everything ok love?” he asked her, the guy pulled a face, as though he was concentrating  
          “Yea, I just met the Mayor of this place” she said gesturing at the man in front of them and trying not to laugh  
          “Hey, ghoul, get your mitts off her” hancock raised one eyebrow at the little man who stood scowling at him, “it’s bad enough they treat your kind like people here, I put up with that but here you are trying to take my woman, I saw her first”  
          The drunk man reached out towards Harry about to grab her arm but Hancock took his hand first, twisting it at an uncomfortable angle,  
          “I have no idea who you are, but this is my town and you definitely weren't here first, we don't take kindly to scum like you and this woman here has her own mind and can make her own decisions about who she does and doesn't want to spend the night with. In case you're under any misconceptions, so far she's chosen me every time” Hancock let go of him and turned towards her “you ok?”  
          “FILTHY GHOUL SCUM I'LL SHOW THIS BITCH WHAT A REAL MAN FEELS LIKE” the guy shouted, apparently unaware that the whole bar had gone silent and everyone was tense and reaching towards their weapons waiting for the right moment. Hancock just looked at him and punched him square in the face, he fell backwards and hit his head against the bar before crumpling to the floor unconscious. From the stairway Ham pointed at two guys and they rushed over to pick him up and carry him out between them. She didn’t get to see anymore as Hancock had taken her by the arm and pulled her away heading straight for the women's toilet. He opened a cubicle and pulled her inside,pushing the door closed before a little too forcefully pushing her to her knees. He undid his fly and pulled out his already hard cock, pushing her head down into it, she obligingly parted her lips. He groaned and he pushed himself inside her mouth and the noise made her ache, he thrust the end of his hard member down the back of her throat making her gag. It seemed gagging turned him on all the more, his dick twitched and he pulled back and did it again and again, she felt dirty, used and god she liked it. When she'd had enough of the rough treatment she reached up and pushed him back hard, looking up at him with wide eyes, he started to look a bit guilty. She'd liked it (which surprised her a lot) and wanted to let him know, so she fixed him with her best dirty grin and wrapped her mouth back around his shaft, this time setting her own pace. She ran her tongue up and down and twirled it around the tip before letting it slide gently down her throat, his hips shook and he groaned. She kept moving her head, letting his cock slip almost out of her mouth, running her tongue around the tip the gently letting it slip down her throat. He shook with every movement until she just gently sucked moving her mouth up and down his cock, he kept groaning and pushing into her. Suddenly he moved away from her and slipped his hands under her arms, lifting her so that her legs could wrap around him, her back against the door. He penetrated her and was rewarded with a whimper, planting his hands on the top of the door he started thrusting, keeping a steady beat, her insides filling with fire and noises escaping her lips with every movement of his hips. He grew faster, stronger, fucking her harder as the door rattled loudly, her noises grew louder as the sensation became harder to bear. At one point the door to the toilets opened and was quickly pulled closed again after a few seconds. She was almost screaming now and his knuckles were white despite the scars, she full of him, and her hips were moving in time with his of their own volition. They came together with a loud screaming and a spasming rattle of the door. He fell backwards to land on the toilet seat, her legs still wrapped around him. She rested her head on his shoulder and nuzzled his neck offering up little kisses every now and then,  
          “What was that for?” she asked him after a while  
          “I'm not entirely sure myself, something about that dickhead saying he'd show you what a real man felt like”  
          “You know I'd never have gone off with him right?”  
          “Yea I know, just wanted to show you what you'd be missing I guess”  
          “Well that was unmissable, especially to the woman who walked in halfway through”  
          “Noticed that did you?”  
          “Barely, a minute later and I'd have been too far gone to even hear her”  
          “I'm doing something right”  
          “So far you're doing everything right”  
          “I wasn't too rough then? Kinda… got into the moment”  
          “No I liked it and you stopped when I wanted you to stop”  
          “So you like it rough then?”  
          “Is that not what we've been doing?”  
          “Oh sister you haven't seen rough yet”  
          “I look forward to it” they paused, both staring into each other's eyes, smug smiles on their faces,  
          “You know we've got to go out there now right?” he said, finally breaking the warm silence  
          “I know”  
          “And half of Goodneighbour is out there”  
          “I know”  
          “And they all know what we've been doing in here”  
          “Yea, I know”  
          “And your hair's a mess and your dress is dirty in a very… specific place”  
          “I still know”  
          “And now your face is bright red”  
          “That I definitely know”  
          “Ready?”  
          “Ready” he draped his coat around her shoulders and ran his fingers through her hair, it didn't do much to hide the stains at her knees but at least her hair was slightly neater and the red of the jacket made her face seem a little less bright. Thankfully Magnolia was singing so not everyone noticed them sneaking out, she did though and gave them one hell of a knowing grin from the stage.

  
          They got back to the door of the state house laughing like idiots and definitely ready to fall into that big bed. only they ran into the same guy, now a little more sober and sporting the beginnings of a black eye,  
          “It's that fucking ghoul that knocked me out” he said to a group of men who were just as rough, only they seemed to know who Hancock was and looked terrified, “haha so you're staying in the doss house too? You've got egg on your face now bitch” he spat on the floor at their their feet,  
          They both just looked at him and Hancock waived over a couple of the neighbourhood watch, with their obvious machine guns and sneers, he said something to one of them and the drunk idiot who didn’t know when to shut up was ushered out of Goodneighbour, probably for life. Honestly after what he'd said so loudly about ghouls (and women) he was probably more likely to survive out there. Especially since Harry could see KL-E-O watching him and she had a lot to say about how women should be spoken to and a whole arsenal of weapons. They got back to their room and he undressed her (it wasn’t very difficult) and made love to her softly and gently, pleasing her in almost every way he knew how. She thought maybe it had been an unnecessary apology for losing it and being so rough with her earlier but still, she wasn’t complaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole chapter is written from Harry’s point of view for a couple of reasons. One because I wanted to get across her emotions when she's dealing with Hancock being a bit jealous and overprotective. Two because I didn't want the sex scene to end up a bit... rapey. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!


	17. Back To The Brotherhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Harry gets injured she overhears a fee things she shouldn't and she isn't as nieve as Danse.

          It still wasn't easy saying goodbye, the time had passed too quickly, especially since all they did was move from the bed to the bathtub and back a few times, fucking every time both of them had recovered enough from the last time. He saw her to the gate, Danse would be waiting not far away and he’d rather avoid that confrontation right now. After kissing her goodbye and watching her leave he leaned back against the gate and sighed deeply before regaining his usual composure and charging off to deal with some long overdue work.

          On the other side of the gate Harry leaned her back against the wood and sighed before pulling out a gun and heading in the direction of the pick up point. She heard Danse before she saw him, she'd never met anyone so bad at sneaking,  
          “I don't want to know what you and that… ghoul… have been doing”  
          “Really? It's quite a fun story, we organised a mass orgy in the middle of the town, everyone was invited” Danse turned bright red  
          “Did… did you really?”  
          “Of course we didn't, god what the hell do you think of me Danse?”  
          “Well… I don't know… I don’t really know what life is like outside the brotherhood” her heart dropped, she'd forgotten for a second that Danse had joined the military so young and she felt sorry for making fun of him. After all he'd pretty much been brought up by this bunch of psychopaths, indoctrinated into their way of thinking before he grew his first chin hairs,  
          “It's not really like that, it's a lot freer than the old world but it's still… good… you know Nate was a soldier?”  
          “Your husband?”  
          “Yep, when he first came back from the big war he found it hard to adjust to normal life, in some ways he was so innocent”  
          “Sounds a bit like me” Danse said, she smiled at him  
          “Yea, he was a bit like you, tall and dark too but he believed in the same things as me, he joined the army to save everyday people, not to kill for reasons he barely understood. I think that's what made him quit in the end, he couldn't stop the suffering”  
          “Sounds like a great man”  
          “He was” they walked in silence then and the vertibird was waiting for them when they got there ready to take her off to the life her dead husband was built for.  
          Two weeks passed with still more busy work, she was so bored she wondered if she should tell Maxon about the transporter. It had been a while ago that she'd heard about Vrigil in the glowing sea and set out to find him, he'd made her kill a courser and told her about the transporter and the information on the chip but no one could translate it. She didn’t feel right about it yet, didn’t trust Maxon and if she couldn't trust him she was damn well going to use it to get something she wanted from him. The fact that she was doing busy work while her son was growing up in the institute killed her a little. Danse helped her through it though without even knowing what he was doing.  
          Finally they got a decent mission, the brotherhood had found out that the institute had planned to get… something (the technology stuff flew over her head) from some building downtown and her and Danse Had been sent to stop them before a scribe could retrieve it. So far it had been a lot of waiting, her muscles aching as they stood out of sight with a view of the doors. Both of them wore power armour and had their speakers turned off so they didn’t alert anyone to their presence, they still had short range radios equipped in their helmets so could talk to each other. So far they'd made small talk, she'd had to explain to the soldier that she knew he hated small talk but it made her calmer and he'd agreed to it. Suddenly she was hit with inspiration and just blurted out what she was thinking,  
          “What's your real problem with Hancock?”  
          “I'm sorry knight?”  
          “Well, you have a problem with all ghouls but you seem to especially hate him, why?” Danse thought about it for a second  
          “It's the way he looks at you”  
          “Hummm? How does he look at me?”  
          “Well like he's hungry… I don’t mean literally, like… he wants to consume you in some way, I saw it when we first met. It's not just that though, it's the way you look at him too”  
         “What do you mean?”  
         “Sometimes you look at him like you're hungry too, not so intense, but… when you seem scared or confused you look at him like he protects you, at first I thought he did but I've seen you fight and you're the last person that needs looking after… you don't need him”  
          “Sometimes it's nice to be looked after, to feel protected even if you don't need it”  
          “I've never thought that myself, rely on your own wits and they won't let you down”  
          “That's what I thought before I met him”  
          “But why him? Why a ghoul? Why not someone normal like… well like me” she paused to think for a moment but never got to finish that thought as the ground was rocked by an explosion. They both whipped their heads around looking for its source before she realised,  
          “Inside… danse they're tunnelling underneath” he understood and they both jumped up and ran through the front door. Following the sound of another explosion they found themselves at a terminal and a locked door, she looked at the man beside her,  
          “We can't unlock it in our suits, I'm better with machines than you, I should do it… it should only take a second” he stared at her for a moment before nodding. She didn’t waste any more time and slipped out of her power armour to concentrate on passwords and dates, another explosion, closer this time,  
          “I'm in” she shouted ready to give the command to open the doors. Then the world went white.  
          She could hear shouting and was distantly aware of being carried, she closed her eyes opening them again to Danses face and noise, so much noise. Her eyes opened again only a little, all she could see where fuzzy blobs and some of them were shouting,  
          “THREW AWAY THE ENTIRE MISSION TO SAVE HER”  
          “WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO LET HER DIE OUT THERE?”  
          “YES, SHE'S A SOLDIER, ALL SOLDIERS ARE EXPENDABLE, IT'S PART OF THE JOB, SHE SHOULD KNOW THAT, YOU SHOULD HAVE TAUGHT HER THAT”  
          “SIR, I DON'T ACCEPT THAT SHE IS EXPENDABLE”  
          “WE ARE ALL EXPENDABLE, EVEN ME”  
          “SO YOU WOULD ORDER ME TO LEAVE THE COMMONWEALTH’S SWEETHEART TO DIE IN A CRATER FOR THE SAKE OF AN ARTIFACT? THE COMMON PEOPLE WOULD LOVE US THEN”  
          “Sir I think he has a point” this voice was new coming from the brown blur, not shouting and it sounded like captain kells,  
          “YOU DID BRING HER INTO THE BROTHERHOOD TO HELP WITH THE COMMON PEOPLE, THEY’D HATE US IF WE ABANDONED HER” this voice was silver and sounded like Danse but she couldn’t understand why he was shouting  
          “DANSE SOMETIMES YOU ARE SO NAIVE”  
          “SHE MEANS TOO MUCH TO THE BROTHERHOOD TO LEAVE HER TO DIE OUT THERE”  
          “I REFUSE TO BE SPOKEN TO IN THIS TONE ANY LONGER… BUT MARK MY WORDS THIS IS NOT THE END OF THIS DISCUSSION” that one belonged to the black blob, it was definitely Maxon, but why were they being so loud? two blobs left and the last one, the silver one that sounded like Danse leaned closer to her,  
          “You mean too much to me to leave you to die out there” he whispered before she closed her eyes again.  
          She woke once more to an empty room, she could hear far off engines and just about make out the edges of beds and a tray. She mumbled, trying to get attention to ask for Hancock, she needed him only she couldn’t quite wrap her head around why. She mumbled again, louder this time and a round face appeared in front of hers,  
          “Hancock” she said to the man in front of her,  
          “What are you trying to say?” he asked in a kindly voice  
          “Hancock” it was coming out so jumbled and quiet, she could feel him moving closer  
          “Hancock?” he asked, she nodded “I don’t think there’s anyone by that name aboard knight... I’ll ask some of the others though”  
He vanished for a while, giving her clouded head a moment to think about what he said, aboard and knight stood out, aboard what, was she on a ship? who was the knight? The face reappeared,  
          “There’s no Hancock’s but one of the other nurses suggested you might want to sign something, she mentioned an old world saying, is that what you meant?” she shook her head, it was all so confusing and she felt bad for the nice man trying to help her. Then she remembered her friend, he was important, he could help her,  
          “Danse”  
          “Ahh now that name I know, he’s been sat right here every second he can get away from work… I’ll send for him”  
          By the time Danse had been found the clouds in her head had dispersed a little and she was able to sit up slightly on two big firm pillows, Danse smiled warmly at her,  
          “Good to see you’re awake Knight, apparently you were muttering something that sounded like Hancock but it doesn’t ring any bells” she knew he was only trying not to give her away but in her confused state she had to think about this for a second, Danse turned to the nurse “can we have some privacy?”  
          “Of course, as long as you need” as soon as the man had gone Danse sat down on a bench beside her, clumsy in his power armour and leaned in close  
          “You scared me half to death, I thought you were never going to wake up”  
          “How long?” she asked him  
          “Almost a week, I started to think…” the sentence trailed off  
          “I have to get to john, he’ll be worried sick”  
          “Why, you go weeks without seeing him”  
          “But I still talk to him, I always find a way, every night” she tried to lift her arm to show him her pip boy that meant she could pick up radio signals but it was gone, she looked panicked,  
          “Don’t worry it’s in my quarters, that was one of the few things they let me insist on”  
          “What do you mean?”  
          “It’s not important, if it means so much to you I’ll find a way to contact your monster, you should rest now. I’ll give you your pip boy back when you feel well enough to lift it, that thing is heavy and you’re weak right now”


	18. The Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danse breaks the news to Hancock and has to persuade him not to storm the Prydwen just to see Harry.

          Hancock paced, it had been over a week and he’d heard nothing, sometimes she’d miss a day if she couldn’t sneak away but this was different,  
          “Sit down boss, I don’t care if you’re the Mayor or my main source of income, if you don’t stop that I swear to god I will shoot you” Fahrenheit had been trying to distract him, when the chems stopped working (he’d gotten into some sort of hole where he just kept thinking of more and more horrible scenarios, she’d got him out of that and now he was what would normally be pleasantly high) she tried with drink (he’d just cried at her, that was a disturbing few hours) she’d even offered to go find someone he could fuck (he’d got really angry at her for that one, she could understand why but she was running out of ideas) she was currently scraping the barrel by trying to distract him with work, he was just ignoring it.  
          “I don’t understand where she is” he said for the fifteenth time that day, he knew he was repeating himself and he knew Fahr genuinely would shoot him but right now he just needed to talk, to say anything  
          “She’s with that soldier dick, yea he’s a dick but he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her, not if he could do anything”  
          “And if she’s run off with him?”  
          “We’ve discussed this at length, you know her, you love her, would the Harry you love run off with some arsehole pretty boy without a word”  
          “No” he ignored the knot in his gut at the mention of love,  
          “See, he’s a dick but you still trust her” there was a knock at the door, he hoped it wasn’t KL-E-O complaining again, she’d complained about him shouting and about him throwing bottles at her and had complained about him pacing too close to the window already today. He could hear snippets of what the guard was saying, something about power armour, formal, very tall, pretty good looking too,  
          “Danse is outside the gate, apparently he requests a meeting with the Mayor, shall I go get him, he shouldn’t have too much thrown at him if he’s with me” Fahr asked  
          “Mmm yea” Hancock distractedly waved her away, Danse here, and without Harry something serious was going down. Fahr pushed the door open and ushered in the silvery hulking mass of man and power armour, Hancock absentmindedly thought about how glad he was to have double doors on the room. The soldier stood uncomfortably a mix of fear and hate in his eyes, there was pity there too, oh god, was she dead? He got the impression the man would be wringing his hat if he had one.  
          “Hey tin can, come and sit”  
          “I’d rather stand”  
          “Suit yourself… what brings you to my little town?” he tried to act casual, cocky even, but he could feel his hands trembling  
          “It’s Harriette… Knight Monroe, the brotherhood thinks she has… family here, they don’t seem to have figured that one out yet”  
          “Oh shit Danse don’t tell me she’s dead… what happened?” the casual mask slipped, he was so close to tears, or to snapping the soldier's neck with his bare hands whichever urge won out first really,  
          “She’s alive, she woke up yesterday” a sigh of relief escaped him before he realised exactly what Danse had said,  
          “What do you mean woke up”  
          “There was some swelling on the brain and…” he trailed off, Hancock realised he wasn’t going to get a straight answer from the guy like this, he changed tack,  
          “Ok, start from the beginning and explain everything” so Danse did, he explained how they’d been on a mission and heard explosions inside, how she’d got out of her armour to get into a locked terminal. He explained how the last explosion was right behind the door, how the building had collapsed around them, how he’d found her under the debris thankfully protected from the worst by the way some larger parts had fallen over her creating a little bubble. He explained how he’d pulled them off her and found the heavy metal strut on her legs, how he’d worried it had taken him too long to lift it and how he called for the vertibird before he even picked her up, running as fast as he dare. He explained how she had two broken legs and damage all over, how she had swelling on the brain and hadn’t woken up until the sixth day. However he didn’t explain how he’d ruined the mission, how Maxson had told him she should have died there for some pointless piece of tec or how he’d come so close to losing his career, his entire reason for existence to save her. He especially didn’t tell Hancock that he was starting to think maybe he had two reasons to exist and that she was one of them.  
          Hancock listened his fingers drumming on the table, he didn’t know how to react to this, he hated the man, hated everything him and his friends stood for but now he’d saved the woman he loved, she owed her life to him. He did know one thing though,  
          “You’re taking me to her”  
          “That’s not possible” Danse assured him  
          “I don’t care how impossible it is I’m getting to her” Hancock rooted around in the draws of his desk stuffing chems into his pockets, he walked over to the bureau that held some of his weapons, wrapping a grenade belt around his waist and pulling out his sword and shotgun before rethinking and putting on another grenade belt,  
          “Are you going to fight your way through the entire brotherhood?”  
          “That’s the plan”  
          “And then what, have you got wings to take you up to the flying ship?”  
          “I’ll figure that out when I get there, I’m good at thinking on my feet”  
          “She warned me you’d do this” that made Hancock pause, she knew him so well, shit she really did, Danse spoke again “she told me to give you this”  
          Hancock took the scribbled note in front of him, the writing was so shaky he just stared at it for a moment, she usually had better handwriting than him what with the pre war schools. He eventually managed to read it,

 

               to the one I care about most in this world,

  
               I know how you’ll feel when you read this and trust me I’d probably want to do the same but hold on, you’ll need to be patient. They really are looking after me up here and I’ll be well in no time, I made them promise to let me come back to you as soon as it’s safe for me to move. I told them I have a great doctor in Goodneighbour, I don’t think they believe me but they agreed anyway. You may end up having to be my nurse for a bit which should be fun, it’ll mean I’ll get to spend a lot of time with you until I’m better.  
               Please don’t do anything Rash, just be patient, you know I always find my way back to you and this time won’t be any different. Paladin Danse is on his best behaviour and has promised to bring back your reply, he’ll help you write it if you don't know what to put. Oh and I sent him with a little something from me, you’ll have to tell me about his face when he gives you it,

  
                   be Patient   
                       Harriette Monroe

 

          Hancock looked over at danse for a second, rethinking his plan to take on the brotherhood to get to her, after all they probably had the best medical care in the world but ohh he wanted to see her, to kiss her and make all the pain go away. There was one thing he was curious about though,  
          “It says you’ve got something from her?” Danse let out an exasperated sigh, he wasn’t even bothering to hide his extreme discomfort now,  
          “She… well… she asked me to… em… to kiss you... from her” Hancock burst out laughing, that’s what she meant about his face, ohh if she still had that devilish sense of humour she must not be that ill,  
          “Go on then” he said, pointing at his scarred face, hell he wouldn’t want to kiss him, Danse tensed up and gritted his teeth,  
          “You can’t possibly want me to do this”  
          “It is for Harry and she is sick… don’t worry you won’t catch anything” The soldier was going bright red, probably a mix of anger and embarrassment, his teeth were just clamped together now and hancock thought the vein on his head was about to explode. His eyes moved to the part of his cheek Hancock had pointed out as the ghoul inched closer, Danse, still in his power armour had to bend to plant the quickest possible kiss on his burnt flesh. Hancock laughed and he laughed, god he loved her, she knew just the present he’d want,  
          “Ok” Hancock started, “I’m gonna do something for you now, I want you to do the same for her, quick peck on the cheek, no lips and definitely no tongue. Help me write this letter so I don’t give the game away”

          Aboard the prydwin Harriette waited nervously for Danse to get back, she thought the letter would go some way to making Hancock happier and the kiss should diffuse the tension. Still there was a chance the mad bastard would still storm the prydwin somehow so she had to wait for news to be sure. It was hard to find ways to distract herself from a hospital bed, she had some battered copies of grognac but she'd already read them all cover to cover twice. At least now she was allowed to sit up in bed properly so she could watch the doctor and nurses rushing about, that took her mind off it a bit. The curtain by her bed moved and Danse appeared behind it, he looked around to check for the nurses before handing her a scrap of thick paper, it was Hancock's reply,  
          “Have you read this?” she asked the soldier nervously hovering by her,  
          “I gave him some hints about what not to put in but no, I don't know what's in there” she nodded and opened the paper

               To my best sister

  
                You were right as always, I had two grenade belts around me before this brute calmed me down. I’ll wait for now but if anything happens someone is going to pay.  
               I can’t wait till you’re better, you’ll find a willing nurse here anytime, only can you dress up instead of me?  
               Make sure you rest and do everything the doctor tells you, I may not like it but you are in the best place right now. By the way I loved my gift, I’ll tell you about it in detail when you get here, I asked Danse to give you something too, I figure he’ll enjoy this a bit more! I’m waiting with bated breath to hear from you, no matter how long it takes (don’t make it too long though, I can only bate my breath for so long without dire consequences, even if I don’t actually know what bated breath really means),

                  From  
                     your favourite politician x

 

          “Ok so I guess you’ve got to kiss me now” she said after laughing her way through Hancock’s letter  
          “That’s what he said, on the cheek, he gave me a list of rules”  
          “Did he really have two grenade belts on?”  
          “And a sword and a shotgun, he was eyeing up the rest of them too”  
          “Ohh that cabinet, in the office, that’s got his favourites in”  
          “He has more?”  
          “Plenty”  
          “Maybe he would have had a chance then” she laughed at that which made her wince, danse moved closer in some sort of instinctual attempt to save her, “careful, we don’t want you to get too worked up”  
          “Oh no we wouldn’t want that” she said sarcastically “I don’t know why they’re still keeping me here, a few stimpaks and I’ll be good to go”  
          “A building fell on you, that takes a bit more recovery time than your usual mishaps”  
          “Mishaps, you call getting shot at constantly a mishap? anyway where’s my kiss”  
          “Oh that” Danse had flushed a bright crimson but still leaned in, he paused for a second or two and she thought she heard him pull a deep breath through his nose almost as though he was smelling her skin. His lips touched her cheek, soft and gentle and she felt a quick shiver down her spine, she could feel his stubble against her jaw as he held the kiss just a little too long. He pulled away, mumbling something, he left refusing to look at her and leaving her wondering what was going through his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really really enjoyed writing this chapter, it's mostly just a bit of fun in between all the drama although it does have more than a couple of moments of Danse angst. Also I wanted to put the bit about bated breath in Hancock's letter because he’s starting to pick up some of her old world habits and sayings even if he doesn't know what half of them mean!


	19. A Really Great Nurse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry returning to Goodneighbour means Hancock gets to show off his skills as a nurse which mostly consist of handing out chems and filling a bed with pillows and teddies.
> 
> They have a very serious conversation about Harry’s past and *shudder* feelings.

          Harry was met with funny looks from the sick bay staff when they handed over a bag of chems (mostly med-x) to help with her recovery at home and she burst out laughing. She had to pretend that it was because the drugs she was on were having an odd effect on her when really it was because where she was going there were probably more chems than belonged to the whole damn brotherhood. Hancock would approve though, this was likely some really high grade stuff and he’d want to give it a try.  
          The past week had been awful, she hated not being busy, needing stuff to do had always been ingrained that by now it was a personality trait. Danse had come to visit her when he could, he was aboard the prydwin all the time now since he didn’t have a partner for missions but they kept him seriously busy, she had the sneaking suspicion someone had seen something she hadn’t and was trying to keep them apart for some reason. He still managed to get the time to drop her off at Goodneighbour, using some excuse about it being dangerous and her being wounded. Normally she would complain about being babied like that but right now she honestly wasn’t sure she could even take down a raider, she felt so weak and tired all the time and still had a lot of pain to deal with when the med-x wasn’t working. She’d been recommended for two weeks of recovery time and god she liked the idea of that, two whole weeks to laze about with Hancock and a big bag of chems, perfect.  
          Danse walked her to the outside of the gate, since the whole thing with the letters and the kisses he’d blush every time Hancock’s name was mentioned and she kept poking fun at him about having a crush, she imagined that’s why he refused to come in. People who would usually run up and greet her warmly gave her a wide berth as she walked the street but a lot of them still shouted well wishes and get well soons at her, she just looked a bit confused, she’d have to ask Hancock about that one later. Speaking of, her ghoul was sat at his desk, his feet up and papers in his hands with Fahr trying to get him to read something properly, he jumped up when she came in and gave her a gentle hug before sitting down and pulling her onto his lap a bit too roughly, she winced,  
          “Shit babe I’m sorry I forgot I’ve gotta be really gentle” he looked pretty worried,  
          “Don’t worry, I’m not that bad, just hurts a bit sometimes… oh speaking of which I’ve got a present for you courtesy of the Brotherhood” she reached down into the pack she’d had with her for so long it was a completely different colour now with a million different pockets sewn into it. She pulled on the bag inside and handed it to Hancock,  
          “Fahr, she brought me a bag of chems… I think I may be the luckiest man on earth”  
          “Or the soppiest” Fahrenheit replied,  
          “My nurse gets to be in charge of my meds… but be careful we wouldn’t want me taking too much” the three of them burst out laughing,  
          “Oh I’ve got something for you too” Hancock reached into a draw on his desk and pulled something out, taking his hat off he put it on his head. It was a PVC nurse's cap and Harry had to be careful not to laugh so much it hurt “for my nursing duties”  
          “I’ve got a question for the two of you”  
          “Oh, do we get to know what it is?” Hancock teased,  
          “Yea… why was everyone out there avoiding me?”  
          “Not a clue” Hancock said,  
          “I know” Fahr piped in “probably something to do with you throwing bottles out of the window and yelling 'if anyone so much as touches that woman no one will find the body' or something along those lines when you were drunk, you don’t shout very often, I think everyone got a bit spooked”  
          “Ahh shit, gonna have to apologise to the whole damn town for that one”  
          “You’d better, I don’t want people avoiding me forever” Harry told him,  
          “Shouldn’t you be in bed, recovering?”  
          “Please no, I’ve spent too long laying down… can’t I just stay here and try to help with this?” she said, wiggling her bum in his lap a little,  
          “I was pretty much looking for any excuse to ignore this actually, but I’m sure it’ll be far more fun with you in my lap” the rest of the day was spent like that, sometimes chatting, sometimes working but more often than not doing everything they could to get Hancock to work. Harry ended up being pretty good at convincing the Mayor to work, Fahrenheit asked her to teach her the trick and she had to admit to the heavily armed woman that it was mostly her moving her arse around on his lap or whispering dirty things in his ear, Fahr decided she’d stick with her method of bribery.  
         

          With Harry back Hancock was sleeping a lot better, wrapped around her in the mound of pillows and teddy bears he’d brought her, hoping that would make her feel better, in reality it just made the bed feel crowded. They woke up the next day later than usual and the day after that even later, after a few days they woke up to a knock at the door and Fahrenheit’s voice behind it,  
          “Hey, big shot Mayor, are you planning on actually getting out of bed today?”  
          “What time is it?” came Harry’s groggy voice from beside him, he lifted her arm and looked at the pip boy screen,  
          “Apparently it’s 1pm, we slept all morning”  
          “Good” she said turning around and nuzzling his neck  
          “Boss? are you actually in there?” Fahr shouted through the door again. He could feel Harry’s warm hands running over his body and her breath on his neck, it would have been heavenly if his bodyguard would stop knocking on the damn door,  
           “HANCOCK GET YOUR ARSE OUT OF BED” she shouted again, this time louder and a lot angrier. He decided on the best way to get her to piss off and untangled himself from the woman whose hands were starting to explore more intimate areas,  
            “Be right back” he whispered to her before pulling back the covers and getting up, he was still totally naked when he opened the door to Fahrenheit. He stood there unabashed, his cock already hard from Harry’s gentle caresses and watched as the bodyguards eyes grew big,  
          “No offence Fahr, but fuck off… I’m a bit busy” he said before closing the door on her shocked face and curling back up in bed. It was good to know he could still shock her! She wouldn’t bother them for a while after that! He got back under the covers and wrapped his body around Harry,  
          “John?”  
          “mmmmm?”  
          “Shouldn’t you go do some work?”  
          “I probably should but there’s one great distraction right here and it’d take a bulldozer to get me out of this bed for long”  
          “So… sex?”  
          “You asking? that’s not like you”  
          “Well you haven’t… done anything since I got back and… well that’s not like you either, is something wrong?”  
          “You’re hurt, I don’t want to make you any worse”  
          “God will everyone stop acting like I’m made of china? I’m fine”  
          “A building fell on you and you nearly died, forgive me for thinking that’s a big deal, anyway you haven’t exactly made a move either”  
          “I haven’t? didn’t you notice me getting naked and swaying my hips on the way to the bathroom, or trying to rub up against you in bed last night, or kissing your neck, or just now running my hands all over? God do I need to just grab your dick to send you a hint?”  
          “Ohh so that’s what all that was, I was just enjoying the view, didn’t think to make anything more of it… wanna try again”  
          “Nahh, I’m kind of over it now, you ruined it by talking too much”  
          “That all I am to you? a silent dick you can jump on any time you want?” she gave him a smack for that one but still laughed,  
          “Have you ever been in love?”  
          “Where’d that come from?”  
          “Dunno, I was just thinking”  
          “No I haven’t, never really had the time”  
          “It doesn’t really work like that, it’s not like you can stop it just because you’re busy”  
          “Yea, kinda figuring that one out” he had hoped she’d ask him about that comment, as an easy way to start a conversation about… feelings (even that word made him shudder) but she just laid there silent possibly thinking “how did you meet Nate?”  
           “He was on leave, we met at a dance, he tried to kiss me and one of my brothers tried to kill him”  
          “Your brother sounds charming”  
          “He was a dick, they all were”  
          “Big family?”  
          “The biggest, not in boston though”  
          “Why did you move here then?”  
          “To get away from them, I had to disappear”  
          “What do you mean disappear?”  
          “Me and Nate got married in secret, I’d been sneaking about a lot and since he was in the army I could go whole months without seeing him, when I found out he was coming home permanently it meant I could get away”  
           “They didn’t approve of the pretty soldier?”  
          “Not exactly their type, they would have loved you though… well I think you’re a bit too moral actually, but they’d like the way you don’t mind getting your hands dirty. Nate was different, the opposite to everything I knew”  
          “Well if I’m too moral they must have been in the mob or something” he said jokingly, she didn’t say anything to this and his mind started going, where her family some old world mobsters? it would explain a few things, like the fact that a housewife dropped into a post apocalyptic world could shoot so well, hack computers and lockpick better than anyone he’d ever seen. “is that it? your family were some mob types”  
          “They were the mob, you ever heard of godfather? pretty good film from a long time ago, well longer now but still old before the bombs”  
          “I think Nick mentioned it… well raved about it. Something to do with crime bosses fighting over something?”  
          “That’s the one, well I got brought up like that”  
          “Wow ok, that explains some stuff”  
          “It was odd, I didn’t notice that I lived differently to anyone else for the longest time… well… women, me, I was kept safe, always, I was the little sister and I got everything I could ever wish for, it was like I was a treasure to my dad and my brothers but… at the same time they’d beat me if I did something wrong, they kept me away from the world like some sort of prisoner. I think I was property to them, they loved me but also owned me”  
          “Shit kid I’m sorry” He didn’t know what to say, but she kept on talking anyway,  
          “There was one time, I’d been home schooled for most of my life and I managed to persuade my dad to let me go to school, I think I might have thrown a tantrum or something. Anyway I got close to this boy, he was sweet, a little dorky we were something like 12 so it’s not like we were thinking about kids and marriage. He held my hand, kissed me on the cheek a few times, all of a sudden I get pulled out of school and back to homeschooling, my tutor pretended not to notice the black eye but that kid… he was on the news for a month afterwards, missing, I couldn’t prove anything but….” she trailed off, he didn’t say anything, just wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in closer planting kisses on the top of her head, then she spoke up again “like I said, I’ve always been tough”  
          “You’re definitely that love” He just held her there for a while enjoying her smell and the warmth of the bed around them, wondering if he should do some work at some point so Fahr didn’t get mad.  
          “Anyway, there was a reason I asked about you being in love”  
          “Yea”  
          “Well… I know I’m not just some girl but… have there been others like me? other women you’ve felt like this about?”  
          “God isn’t it obvious? I love you… I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything in my whole fucked up life. Baby you, you’re the best thing I got” she sat silent for some time,  
          “I love you too, I feel more at home with you than I ever have before”  
          “Even with Nate?”  
          “Even with Nate… I loved him but… not like this, it was easy to love him and once we got away it was normal, we didn’t have to fight for it and honestly I don’t know how much I would have if I had to, but I know for a fact that I’d take down anyone who tried to get in our way”  
          “Hey, same here… I threatened to fight the whole damn Brotherhood just to see you”  
          “Most romantic thing anyone’s ever threatened me with”  
          “Well I’m damn good at this stuff, speaking of stuff I’m damn good at, is sex still on the table?”  
          “It’s never off”  
          “Am I allowed to be gentle at least?”  
          “Course, just so long as you promise you’ll give me a good hard fucking when I’m better”  
          “I could never say no to you”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is mostly a fluff chapter but I wanted to put in my owname headcannon about how a housewife gets dropped into the middle of the wasteland and thinks "yea I'm ok with this" and immediately goes about lock picking, hacking computers and handling guns like a pro etc. With this Sole Survivor it's because her family were mobsters (please note I get all my details on mob life from old gangster movies).
> 
> Also the L bomb... ahhhh!


	20. Bargaining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry heads back to the Brotherhood but this time it’s on her terms.

          The two weeks passed far too quickly, mostly spent sleeping in or with work around Goodneighbour. After a while people relaxed around Harry again after the whole giving her a wide berth thing, she fell into a routine there and thought she could maybe get used to it, the life of being a politician's girl rather than a soldier or a mother or the saviour of the Commonwealth or whatever she was these days, maybe she was all of them now?  
          It had taken a long while for her to persuade Hancock she wasn’t still broken, she’d been worried he wouldn’t see her the same now she’d proven she wasn’t invincible but he took it all in his stride. Now everything seemed pretty much back to normal, well except for the fact that now, whenever he grabbed her into a kiss he’d whisper “I love you” into her ear and she would say it to him whenever she wanted. Love wasn’t exactly something Harry had bargained for and especially not love like this, it was so passionate, so all consuming but at the same time free. She trusted him and she knew now that he’d stand at her side in whatever she wanted to do, not ask her to sacrifice her own mission for his and she kept wondering why it took her so long to see that.  
          But the time did pass and she had to get back to the Brotherhood, only now, after a lot of careful thought, she wasn’t going to let them make the rules. She wasn’t exactly blind, she knew Maxon knew more than he was letting on, maybe he even knew about the chip, she’d have to do some hard bargaining to get what she really wanted from them which was the chance to rescue her son then be done with the whole sorry bunch of bigots. The medical consisted of the usual prodding and poking about and unsurprisingly she passed it with flying colours (must have been down to all that great nursing she got). Danse was waiting outside when they released her and as usual he fell into step beside her, he looked angry,  
          “What’s wrong?” she asked looking up at the tall man beside her  
          “I got our next mission already, we’re on babysitting duties”  
          “What?”  
          “They want us to take the cadets out in the field to get hands on experience… I don’t like it… I don’t like the idea of Kids being brought along in the first place, let alone putting them in harm's way on purpose”  
          “What take a kid with us to fight a horde of supermutants?" she pulled a face "they do that when you were training?”  
          “No, Elder Lyons had cadets learn a lot more from books and using the training yard Maxson is all about the hands on approach”  
          “Let’s not do it then” Danse looked down at her shocked, as though the very idea of refusing to carry out an order was simply an impossibility  
          “But it’s an order, we can’t disobey”  
          “Oh yes we can, just watch me! Let’s go talk to Maxson” she landed her best cheeky grin on the Paladin but he still argued,  
          “Elder Maxson is a very busy man, he doesn’t have time for a knight complaining about their orders”  
          “He’ll want to talk to me… god will you just stop talking and come with me?” he reluctantly followed as Harriette led him to the big, glass fronted room where Maxson was stood looking down at the city below. He turned when he heard them enter, or when he heard the clomp of Danses power armour anyway,  
          “Paladin Danse, Knight Monroe, do you have some information concerning the institute, if I remember rightly I told you to speak with me only if you had such information”  
          “Well, surprisingly I do but I have conditions” she stood poud in front of the tall and imposing leader, meeting his gaze with her own and pulling herself up to her full height (which really wasn't much),  
          “What is the meaning of this, Paladin, did you know about this?” Maxson turned to Danse a look of fury in his eyes  
          “No sir, I didn’t know about any of this but I stand by my partner”  
          “He’s right he didn’t" she looked over at her Paladin who somehow looked sheepish despite about a ton of metal surrounding him but he had just called her partner and somehow that idea made her cheeks flush "look, I have information on how to get into the institute but I’m tired of this little dance you have me doing. I’m sure you know by now that I have the courser chip and with it a means to get inside the belly of the beast”  
          “Certain information had come to light since you were asked to join our ranks yes”  
          “And all of this busy work you’ve had me doing… it was for what?”  
          “I had hoped that if you had the opportunity to understand how we worked then you would hand over this information willingly in time”  
          “You’re very sure of the fact that I’d like what I see”  
          “Did you?” Maxson was looking her up and down with his blue eyed stare, it made her angry,  
          “Not really, you’d have been waiting a hell of a long time if you were hoping for my trust. Still, I have something you need and you have something I need amongst most people that would be an opportunity to make a deal not attempt to manipulate one side into giving up their item”  
          “So you wish to make a deal?”  
          “Yes”  
          “And your demands are?”  
          “God you make it sound like I’m holding a hostage… ok, first neither I nor Danse will be put through any more of this busy work, we will be free to choose which missions we carry out and which we don’t” this made Danse gasp and Harry had to really concentrate not to laugh at him “do you agree”  
          “Yes” the Elder was still stoic and still his eyes wandered over her small frame like he was summing up his opponent,  
          “Ok, second I will be free to come and go as I choose, I’m fed up of being a member of your army and now that you’ve got what you want from me I’d like to carry on with my own life and yes, I would still like to help the Brotherhood where I can”  
         “you are asking a lot, no one has ever had the rights of a brotherhood knight but also acted as a civilian would you think yourself so special?”  
          “I am special, I’m the only person outside of the institute itself that knows how to get in there, so, do you agree?”  
          “I suppose I have little choice” he pouted like a child for a split second and the lawyer in Harry knew she had him,  
          “You suppose correctly. Finally I would like to be the one to go to the institute”  
          “Absolutely not”  
          “Ok then, I’ll find some other way to do this” she turned around to leave counting steps under her breath,  
          “Wait! Knight if you agree to follow the exact orders I give you once you reach the institute I will allow it”  
          “Ok, that’s all I needed”  
          “And the information?” Harry went on to explain in detail about the relay and how teleport was used to get in and out of the institute, how she had possession of the schematics for something that could lock on to the radio waves used and how the chip needed to be decoded in order to use it. Maxson immediately sent her to Proctor Ingram and work began. It made her nervous and excited to know that, in less than a month it should be working and she would finally have her son and the answers she had been looking for.  
Once all that had been done Danse led her to a more secluded part of the ship and stood over her with a strange look on his face,  
          “That was a very brave thing you did, standing up to Maxson like that”  
          “I trained as a lawyer before Shaun, it's what I do best, it worked and now you and I have the chance to do more than ever to help the Commonwealth”  
          “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, I hope that you intend to do that and not simply use this as an excuse to spend more time with your… ghoul” he whispered the last word even though no one could possibly be listening in, it made her laugh and he screwed up his handsome face at her,  
          “Don’t worry, I’ll probably stay at Goodneighbour a lot more but I still intend to help the brotherhood or at the least help the Commonwealth” she reassured him “by the way… you realize you called me partner back there?”  
          “Isn’t that what we are?”  
          “well I guess, I always assumed you were just… training me”  
          “I see our professional relationship as far more than mentor and trainee, you mean a lot to me solider”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short one tonight (or today, or this morning depending on time zones) but a very important one, Harry is starting to realise that the brotherhood aren't going to solve all her problems.
> 
> Thank you all as always for the lovely comments and kudos and views and yes!


	21. Another Kiss

          She returned to Goodneighbour that night Danse as usual saw her to the gate. She realised something was wrong when he followed her through despite hateful looks from the residents. She hoped none of them would do anything whilst she was there, especially since Danse didn’t even seem to notice. He pulled her into the same alleyway he had before and began talking in a whisper, looking around himself,  
           “I couldn’t tell you this aboard the Prydwin but there’s a reason we were put on babysitting duty”  
          “Does it matter now, we don’t have to do it?” she rolled her eyes at the soldier,  
          “Yes… listen… I think someone suspects something, I’m not sure who or what but…. the reason they had me working so hard when you were sick… the reason they gave in so easily when you wanted to come back here…. they’re trying to keep us apart… stop us from being alone together… Maxson, he’s angry about what I did to save you”  
          “Yea, I know… the way you all yelled back then… oh…” she hadn’t meant to say that, Danse still didn’t know she had been listening to that conversation and with what he said afterwards she guessed he hadn’t wanted her to know,  
          “Yelling when?” oh no, this was going to be an awkward conversation but she may as well come clean,  
          “You thought I was unconscious, I couldn’t really move or anything but I could hear you all… shouting”  
          “How much did you hear?”  
          “I’m not sure, I heard you defending me… Maxson said I was expendable” she couldn't hide her annoyance at that,  
          “And…. em…. after they left….”  
          “Yea, I heard that too”  
          “Oh” Danse looked taken aback, Harry just looked up at him feeling bad that she’d kept this from him until now. Then he did something she would have never expected… he kissed her, bent nearly double in his power armour he brought his lips to hers, he was soft and gentle, running one hand down her face. She felt an arm around her back and was lifted from the ground their lips still together, a million things ran through her head but she didn’t seem to be stopping him. His lips moved against hers, gently opening them and repositioning before closing again, the little movement was so tender she felt herself repeating it, the feel of his skin on hers filling her with a warmth she wouldn’t have expected. He pulled his face away and looked drearily into her eyes, god he really was so good looking, so much like Nate, she felt herself moving in for another kiss before she even thought about it, if she had thought about it would she have stopped herself?

          A knock at the door and one of the Neighbourhood watch appeared,  
          “Boss, just thought you should know Harry’s here and she’s with that brotherhood arsehole… god knows why he’s here”  
          “Thanks… I’ll go see what’s what, any idea where they are?” he said with a feigned cool, he was pretty shocked to hear she was back so soon and with Danse… oh god had something bad happened again? maybe they’d been rumbled or something. He put down the pen and set off to find her but she wasn’t in any of the usual spots, no one he asked had seen where they’d gone. He decided to check the alleys, god knows why they’d have gone down them but it was the last place he could think of. No sign of them in the first two but, when he rounded the third he saw them, he’d known something was wrong, that Danse wouldn’t actually come into Goodneighbour unless he had to but this?  
          Harry was two foot off the ground, his arms wrapped around her and her feet dangling, her back was to him but he could easily tell what they were doing. It should have made him sick to see them kiss but it didn’t, he just felt numb and all he could think was how he must have deserved this, he could never have held on to someone like her for long. Danse was the first to notice he was there, the contented look on his face was replaced by guilt as he made eye contact with Hancock, slowly lowering the woman in his arms to the ground,  
          “What? what’s wrong?” Harry said to him before turning around to see for herself “shit John… I… shit”  
          “I think we need to talk... all of us” was all he said before walking away, he couldn’t look at the guilt on their faces for a moment longer. Back inside the state house and he still couldn’t look at them, there was only one thing he needed to know, one thing that would make all the difference,  
          “Do you love him” he asked without even looking at Harry  
          “No John, of course not” he flicked his gaze to her and the sincerity in her eyes made him… what… angry… happy?  
          “Do you love her?”  
          “I think… yes… I think I do” was Danses response. Hancock almost left it at that, walked away, let Harry go to enjoy the love of this perfect soldier but he couldn’t do that, after all she had said she didn’t feel the same, that gave him the hope to fight for her,  
          “You don’t deserve her” he growled, surprised himself at the bile and anger in his voice,  
          “And you do ghoul?” that stuck up prick just wasn’t letting it go  
          “I know I don’t but I’m damn well ready to fight for her”  
          “You wouldn’t stand a chance, I’d kill you in seconds freak”  
          “Not without that power armour you wouldn’t” to his surprise there was a hiss and the suit opened at the back, Danse stepped down and stood in front of him, without that metal skin for the first time. Judging by the look on Harry’s face it was the first time she’d seen him out of it too,  
          “I don’t need it to take down a pathetic excuse for life like you”  
          “DON’T I GET A SAY?” Harry yelled at the top of her lungs Hancock looked over to see her moving towards them. Danse took his opportunity and threw a punch, not looking at Harry, fury clouding his judgment, his fist met with the side of her face as she placed herself between them. The power of the punch sent her to the floor and Danses expression immediately changed to concern, he tried to get to his knees to help her but Hancock pushed him away,  
            “GET OUT” he shouted, angrier than her had ever been before,  
           “I’m… I’m sorry…. I didn’t” the idiot stuttered  
           “ **LEAVE… NOW** ” he shot the soldier a look that meant this was his last chance, there would be no words next time. The huge man struggled into his power armour and ran, the first smart thing he’d done since he decided to follow Harry into Goodneighbour. With him gone all the rage quickly drained from him he pulled Harry into his arms,  
          “Are you ok?” he asked her  
          “Fine, just… help me up”  
          “Oh I’m gonna do more than that to you” he took her by the wrist and pulled her up, dragging her across the room and bending her double over the desk. He pulled out his knife and cut into the straps of her armour until it fell away before placing it at the neck of her vault suit and making his way down until her pussy was exposed. With all the pent up energy his anger had left he didn’t even bother to pull her suit away before undoing his fly and pushing his cock inside her. She whimpered and tried to get up but he pushed her down and held her shoulders, pulling back his hips and easing into her again, she started to groan as he fucked her hard, all that unreleased tension pounding into her again and again. She struggled and squirmed against his hands as he held her down but still didn’t ask him to stop, all the struggling just got him more worked up and he could feel himself about to come. He was genuinely surprised when he felt her insides start to tense in response... fuck she likes it, she really likes it, the thought spurred him on and with a scream and a shudder she came. He was so close, he pulled himself out and felt the white hot moment of pleasure as he ejaculated on her perfect, firm arse. Panting he looked down at her, still held down and covered in his cum, fucking hell they should fight more often. He let go of her shoulder and sat down on the floor, carefully pulling her into his lap and holding her close,  
          “Sorry” he whispered into her hair, only to be met with a garbled reply. For a while they just sat there, his back against the desk and her curled up in a ball on his lap occasionally making small noises, he liked the fact that he broke her like this every time they had sex and hell after that he could see why. Eventually she stirred and moved her head onto his shoulder, kissing his neck,  
          “Em… not really sure what to say” he said to her he knew this needed more than just yelling and fucking to work out,  
          “Mmmm, about what?” she replied, lifting her head to look at him  
          “Well… that… I kinda got a bit carried away there”  
          “You did didn’t you”  
          “Yea… for the record I’d have stopped if you’d asked”  
          “That’s why I didn’t ask”  
          “You did seem to enjoy yourself, maybe you’re more kinky than I give you credit for. Normally though, that sort of stuff would be something I’d have talked to you about first, made sure I knew what you were and weren’t ok with”  
          “I don’t know what I am and aren’t ok with though, I’d have never thought I’d have enjoyed someone cutting my clothes off and fucking me like they hated me but apparently I do, I think you bring it out in me”  
           “Shall we just agree to try stuff and stop if you’re uncomfortable?”  
          “Sounds perfect”  
          “I bet Danse would be shit in bed”  
          “He’s a pretty good kisser” Hancock took her face in one of his hands and pulled it back to look at her, as if to say 'really? really?'  
          “Too soon?”  
          “Yea a fair bit too soon love” still he laughed, she really did have an evil sense of humour these days,  
          “I’m sorry”  
          “For that comment?”  
          “No… for what I did… with Danse… I’m sorry” she looked so sad, he couldn't help but melt under those perfect puppy dog eyes,  
          “How many times did you… I mean, have you and him been doing this behind my back for ages?”  
          “God no… he just kissed me all of a sudden, that was the only time”  
          “Did you like it?”  
          “Honestly… yea… I think I’ve been confused for a while, he’s just so much like Nate I think I was projecting my feelings for him onto Danse or something”  
          “So, you don’t love him?”  
          “I loved Nate and I think I should have left it all in the past, but no I don’t love him, I think I was just trying to hold onto something I’d lost and I shouldn’t have because I’ve already found something I like better”  
          “You mean me right?”  
          “Of course I mean you stupid… I love you”  
          “I love you too… oh… we should probably...em… get clean” she let out a laugh that was the sweetest sound he could possibly have heard at that exact moment.

          Harry couldn’t believe what this man was doing to her, with her husband she’d enjoyed sex and he did… turn her on… but it was always so sweet and gentle, Nate had made love to her every time. But Hancock, god every time they had sex it was different, exciting and new and she couldn’t believe how much she liked it. She looked over at him on the other side of the bathroom, piling up his clothes before he came to join her in the warm water. The way the scars on his skin moved, she had always been mesmerised by it and now was no exception as she watched his back move, he turned to her and looked worried,  
          “Do they hurt?”  
          “Do what hurt?” she asked, confused by what he was looking at  
          “You’ve got bruises on your shoulders, they’re pretty much shaped exactly like my hands… sorry”  
          “Will you stop apologizing… maybe I should wear something strapless, let the whole world know I’m yours” he made a noise in the back of his throat, something akin to choking but with a little bit of growl,  
          “Well I’m not exactly the type to put my stamp on someone… but I like the idea of that” he grinned at her and slipped in behind her in the tub, his legs either side of her skinny frame, she hated how slim she was now, she’d lost so much weight since she woke up from the cryo,  
          “So you’re not usually this… jealous?”  
          “I’ve not really had anyone in my life to be jealous about and anyway I’m not jealous you can do what you want, I just don’t think he’d treat you right is all”  
          “He’s not all that bad”  
          “He punched you in the face”  
          “By accident”  
          “Are you actually defending the guy you just cheated on me with?” he reached down and started to tickle Harry… so that’s it then, back to normal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry done fucked up... but it's ok, nothing a little bit of angry sex followed by a healthy (ish) adult discussion won't fix.


	22. Vault 81

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry needs a new vault suit so she heads out for a nice, simple trip with her boyfriend... It doesn't go as planned.

          “We should probably get you a new vault suit, this one’s been patched up so many times I don’t think it’s even the same suit anymore”  
          “At least half of those patches are your fault, clothes don’t seem to last very long around you” Harry said, giving him a look  
          “I’ll have you know this jacket is almost 600 years old” he stroked his lapels lovingly,  
          “It’s not your clothes that are a problem… anyway I know just where to get a new vault suit, only you aren’t going to like it”  
          “It’s not the drugs vault again is it?”  
          “Nope, another one this time and I do happen to have some time to kill before Ingram sorts out the transporter thing… wanna go exploring?”  
          “I’d rather stay in bed with you forever”  
          It was a few days after what was now described as the “Danse Incident” and so far they hadn’t left the statehouse at all. According to Fahrenheit the soldier had turned up at the gate a total of four times, he wouldn’t come into the town but just kept asking to see her, Harry knew she’d have to face him at some point, but not yet. They decided going to vault 81 was probably the best idea, it wasn’t too far and the people there liked Harry, much like everyone else in the Commonwealth. She felt a bit self conscious going out in Goodneighbour, she had a big purple bruise on her face from Danses fist and everyone in the rumour mill knew how it had happened by now. Hancock suggested she should get her shoulders out and show off the hand shaped bruises he’d given her there, that would give them something else to talk about!  
          Once past the gate she relaxed, it was funny that she found it easier to walk through the streets of boston, where something could kill you any second than deal with the people of Goodneighbour’s gossip. Hancock walked beside her and made her feel safe, like Danse had said, she could handle herself but still it was nice to be looked after once in awhile. They arrived at the vault without any trouble, that was happening more and more often and Harry had a sense of pride when she thought maybe it was because she and the people she loved and all those that they inspired were making a difference and these days there were less stabby, shooty, bitey or poisonous things out there but that was genuinely unlikely. Hancock had never seen a vault at it’s best and whilst this one wasn’t quite there it was far better than the run down messes most of them were in. He kept making comments about how clean the place was and how riff raff like us should probably not be there in the first pace. Harry just laughed and left him to it, up until the point he’d been staring at the same wall panel for ten minutes telling her he’d never seen anything so white and that was before they’d even gone down the lift and into the vault proper.  
          As soon as the lift doors opened Harry could tell something was wrong, everyone was talking in hushed tones and it wasn’t long before she saw the overseer running up to the pair,  
          “Harriette, so good to see you… and… your friend” given that the people of vault 81 rarely let in outsiders and no one ever went outside they’d probably never even seen a ghoul but Harry knew them well enough to know that all Hancock was likely to get were a few odd looks and some overly personal questions. They were nice, she hadn’t met a single person there that wouldn’t welcome a ghoul with open arms… once they’d figured out what it was,  
          “This is Hancock Gwen” she said “John, this is the overseer”  
          “Hey, nice to meet you” Hancock as usual was politeness and grace, even if she was giving him a funny look  
          “Are you… em…. well… I’m sorry I’m not used to outsiders”  
          “Hancock’s a ghoul Gwen, don’t worry he won’t bite and I’m sure he’ll answer any questions about it” she gave him a little jab with her elbow at this and he nodded, giving the overseer a winning smile “but right now something’s going on right?”  
          “Yes, it’s Austin, he’s sick I thought you might want to know”  
          “Oh god… will he be ok?”  
          “We don’t know, you should go see him in the sick bay”  
          “On it” she took Hancock’s hand and all but ran to the sick bay, Austin had been the one to show her around the place the first time she’d come, he was such a nice kid so full of wonder and questions and every time she’d been there since he’d greeted her warmly. In fact she’d grown quite attached and sometimes she’d bring him cool stuff she found out in the commonwealth, he was her friend. In the sickbay the woman he called gran, Dr Penski was arguing with the doctor who was caring for austin.  
          “What happened?” Harry asked quickly  
          “Oh maybe you can help, we have no idea what’s wrong” said an anxious Dr Penski  
          “I’ll try but… we need to know what he’s got” the woman looked about at the end of her patience,  
          “‘scuse me” this came from a man, well kid, not much older than 18, he seemed desperate to get some attention,  
          “Not now bobby” Dr Panski chided him  
          “But...”  
          “Shush, we’re talking about Austin”  
          “Maybe we should hear him out” Harry suggested, she hated the whole ‘let the adults talk’ ideals, if anyone had input it was valid,  
          “I think I know what’s wrong” said the teenager  
          “Well then, tell us” Dr Penski demanded a bit rudely,  
          “You see there’s this place I got, where I keep my… personal items”  
          “He means chems” the doctor said disapprovingly,  
          “Well, he followed me and there’s a bit where you go through the wall… there’s like a whole other vault back there, I didn’t even know”  
          “Show me” Harry urged the kid, maybe she could find something to help back there. As they ran through the vault to the sliding panel in the wall she could feel Hancock smiling at her and every time she glanced back he had a big grin on his face, which confused the hell out of her. Still it didn’t really matter when the panel slid back and they ran through to see what the hell had been going on.

          Hancock was so proud of his woman, how the hell did he get so lucky? He managed to find himself someone who would rush to help a boy without a seconds thought or any idea of reward, she just threw herself headlong into it. Not only had he found her, he got to follow her to the ends of the earth and even do horribly dirty stuff to her whenever he wanted. She’d never change how he felt about Vaults though, this one looked so good on the surface but as he followed her into it’s mud and dust covered twin he got a horrible feeling in his gut and he was never one to ignore his gut. It wasn’t long, walking down the dirty, rusted corridors before Harry let out a yelp, he turned to her just in time to see her shooting a molerat in the face, it’s head exploding in a cascade of blood,  
          “Did it get you?” he asked, running to her side and looking towards the spot on her leg the beast had bitten,  
          “Ow, yea, just a nip I’ll be fine, I’m gonna need that new vault suit even more now… keep an eye out for the ground moving”  
          “What the hell is this place?”  
          “I don’t know and that’s worrying me” they set off again with Harry limping just a little and Hancock worried about her all the more,  
          “Well didn’t all these vault things do experiments?”  
          “Yea I think so” the ground rumbled and another molerat popped out, this time Harry was expecting it and it’s head exploded before it even got close,  
          “Maybe this place was seeing if molerats could kill an entire vault?”  
          “Molerats didn’t exist back then, but a lot of people were scared of rats, maybe it’s something to do with fears? Look there’s a window” She walked over and pressed a button, they could hear an argument as though it was right next to them, in a nearby terminal were notes on the everyday behaviour of long dead occupants,  
          “Well that’s not creepy” he announced to the room,  
          “Look, there’s more” each major room in the Vault next door had a corresponding window and a speaker so voices could be heard and each one had the same terminal with detailed notes on the people who used to be in them “ok I’ve got to admit, this place isn’t as nice as I made it out to be”  
          “It really isn’t, I expected a nice trip to a vault, a bit of shopping. You owe me one sister”  
          “Sure, I’ll repay you in kind” Harry said distractedly before they continued.  
          They returned to the sick bay, both of them bruised and with Harry suspecting she’d broken a rib and also trailing a robot. Curie had the cure, but only one. Hancock felt conflicted, there was no proof that Harry hadn’t caught whatever the kid had, but they didn’t know if half of it would work for the boy, they asked her what she wanted to do with it and, without the skip of a beat she told them to give it to the boy. He must have been glowing with pride then, he loved her for all that she would risk for a child that wasn’t even her own and the vault dwellers must have felt the same. They didn’t have much, were short on most things and when they asked what she wanted she just replied “a vault suit would be nice” showing them the loose stitching and the patches all over hers. Instead they gave her a room of her own and as many vault suits as she could carry but most important to her was their trust, yet another of the Commonwealth’s little tribes loved her and Hancock thought that maybe one day she’d wear a crown and rule as a benevolent queen.  
          The robot came home with them, back to Goodneighbour and Fahrenheit made some comment about bringing home strays the second she looked at her, Harry said she would bring dogmeat sometime, she’d love him. To be honest the buzzing whirring thing kinda bugged him, plus she was always warning about chem use or not getting enough sleep and by that night he was happy to be able to close the bedroom door on her and once again it was just him and Harry. That night they didn’t have to think about tomorrow or the Brotherhood of Spunkstains, just each other and like that they could face any coming storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to do something a bit fun and basic after so much drama, also a chance to introduce Curie bot.
> 
> So I wrote the people of Vault 81 as being more understanding-but-shutin than out-and-out-racist because I genuinely think that's how they would act and it kinda posses me off in game when you go to the vault and they're all sweet lovely people who would give you the shirt off their back but you go in with Hancock and they're arseholes to him... doesn't really mesh with me.
> 
> Wow that was one long long sentence... I've been awake for 24+h so I'm a bit loopy right now... sorry.


	23. The Institute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry gets dragged off by the Brotherhood AGAIN but this time it's to go to the institute... as I'm sure you all guessed she isn't too thrilled at what she finds there.

          Danse appeared at the gate again but this time it was different, this time he had help and had grown a lot braver for it. Harry had no choice but to go with him, walking in silence and biting her tongue, the bruise on her face was almost gone now and the soldier kept looking at the pale yellow mark. She didn’t dare tell him that the ones on her shoulders were still there and brown not yellow but it gave her a little thrill to think about it. Honestly she felt bad for the soldier, he looked at her with a bright open face full of so many emotions, he had been through a lot and told her all of it but he still seemed so childlike.  
Aboard the Prydwen she was immediately escorted to the Elder, he stood in front of his big glass wall, a look of barely concealed rage playing with his rugged features, in all the time she had known him it never completely faded,  
          “I am aware Knight that we afforded you certain luxuries, that was not an invitation for you to disappear for three weeks without leave” Maxson was bristling with anger,  
          “Well sir, something came up”  
          “What could possibly be more important than the work of the Brotherhood?”  
          “It’s not so much something more important as something that prevented me from returning, something private”  
          “That is in no way an acceptable excuse, you are under my charge and you will give me a good enough reason to have stayed away for such a period or I will have you court martialed”  
          “What would that entail?”  
          “Severe punishments Knight Monroe but no less than you deserve”  
          “Ask Danse I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to explain” that was mean of her but in all honesty she had expected that her soldier would have made up some excuse to get her off the hook, after all it was all his doing,  
          “Paladin, what exactly does she mean?”  
          “Well… sir… there was a… personal… issue between… well… between us” he was starting to go bright red and most likely sweating under all that armour,  
          “I should think two of my officers would have been able to overcome personal issues in order to continue in a professional manner” she scoffed at this, which caused Maxsons head to snap towards her,  
          “Knight, do you have something to add”  
          “Yes, I would like to know why you brought me here”  
          “We have not finished discussing the matter of your absence”  
          “Yes, we have” her tone told the young Elder not to argue,  
          “I intend to find out, but for now I will move on. The Interceptor has been built, it is time for you to infiltrate the institute” Maxon said with an air of anger  
          “Very well, where is it?” she matched his anger with a tone of stubbornness, he would not intimidate her.

          Harry had not returned, the Brotherhood, well more that asshole Danse had taken her away three days ago and Hancock didn’t know why. God why did those dickheads always have to have such an air of mystery, they demanded that she do as they wish but never explain why. He was on edge and Fahrenheit was having to stop him from losing it again, KL-E-O would probably kill him if there was a repeat of the last time she was missing for so long,  
          “Boss, you need to take your mind off it” Fahr said, exasperated  
          “Fahr, if you have any bright ideas about how I’m all ears” he gulped down a mouthful of something indescript but alcoholic  
          “Killing things? I’ve got to go clear out some raiders that are getting too close to the wall, want to join me?”  
          “You mean you’d let me get into a dangerous situation and not have an aneurysm?”  
          “Well it’s either that of sit around here babysitting you while you drink and chem yourself into a bottomless hole”  
          “I like that idea”  
          “I don’t… look you have two options, come with me or I feed you to KL-E-O”  
          “Whatever I can get just as high out there as I can here”  
          In the streets of old Boston, not far from Goodneighbour Hancock was feeling a little better, the knot in his stomach had loosened a little and he was starting to enjoy himself. He threw a grenade at the rusted husk of a car, the Raiders had stood around it, idiots, the massive explosion took out at least two of them but the mushroom cloud had done the trick and driven them back giving him the opportunity to crouch behind it once the flames had died down. From this point he could take out the ones above him before they had the chance to recover from the ringing in their ears, he looked over to give Harry a shit eating grin but she wasn’t there, it was Fahr who’d sidled up behind him. His heart dropped and he just couldn’t bring himself to take out the rest with his usual flare, what was usually fun now dragged him down with guilt,  
           “What am I doing Fahr?” he turned to his bodyguard as bullets ricocheted off the hood of the car, hitting walls and showering them in a flacks of concrete and brick which just disappeared into the rest of the mess surrounding them,                                                                      “Not dying I hope” she replied sarcastically,  
          “No I mean… I’m almost enjoying myself and I have no idea where she is”  
          “You feeling guilty boss, didn’t know you knew how”  
          “Course I know how…. just don’t do it that often” he ducked around the hood of the car and aimed at a raider with a baseball bat that had got too close, his head exploded in a shower of blood and bone, he casually brushed a bit of skull from his shoulder,  
          “Look Hancock, she’s a big girl, she can take care of herself she’s always come back to you before” a molotov sailed out of her hand, smashing on the chest of a raider and engulfing her in flames Hancock wasn’t sure what started first, the fire or the hellish screams of anguish and pain before the raider fell dead,  
          “What if she needs me?” he sent a volley of bullets in the vague direction of the raiders, a shout of anger and pain told him at least one had met flesh  
          “No offence boss but I don’t think that woman needs anything” she lifted both eyebrows, telling him without words that she thought he was being ridiculous,  
          “She needs me for some things at least” Hancock said with a wink, popping his head up over the car roof and taking a few seconds to memorise how many raiders were left and their exact locations. Four, three were stood too close together to survive a grenade, the fourth was a little further away and raising his crappy little pistol,  
          “Trust me boss, women can usually manage that themselves. Not quite as fun that way though” he rolled his eyes at his bodyguard and lobbed a grenade as close to the group as he could. It exploded and a laugh from Fahr told him it had done something,  
          “Three down one to go” she said to him  
          “I need her” he said sadly with a sigh,  
          “I know Boss” she replied as she jumped up and shot the last raider straight between the eyes, the body dropping quickly,  
          “Let’s head back Fahr, this really isn’t helping”  
          “Sure Boss”

          Harry’s eyes filled with tears as soon as she was alone, the scientists had given her something that meant she could transport in an out of the institute wherever she wanted. Getting there had left her feeling sick and she’d taken the first opportunity to find a quiet space where she could be alone. She leaned her legs against the wall and bent double taking slow deep breaths to still her spinning stomach, as the nausea resided the tears came, she just could stop them from forming and rolling down her cheek.  
          All she could think about was Hancock, she needed to get out of there and see him, needed him to hold her and just make it all go away. She lifted her pip boy and opened the map, felt a flash of blue and the crackling of electricity over her skin before she found herself crouched on the bricks of Goodneighbours streets her tears hitting the dry floor. She couldn’t bring herself to move or even hold herself up and sank further towards the floor a hand on her shoulder made her look up, Daisy looked down at her, sympathetic confusion on her face. Harry closed her eyes and let the exhaustion and the sadness engulf her, she was aware of arms around her and being lifted to a standing position and Hancock’s voice in her ear,  
          “What happened love?” she just shook her head into his shoulder “come on inside, we’ll get whatever it is sorted out”  
She opened her tear stained eyes and looked at him as she allowed him to lead her inside the Statehouse, one arm wrapped around her waist and the other gently stroking her hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Fahrenheit and I wish we could have more in game stuff with her... I headcannon her as being really clever and loyal but also sarcastic as anything and one of the few people who can get away with putting Hancock in his place.
> 
> Thankyou all for the lovely comments, they are my souls bread and butter :)


	24. After The Institute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is back from the institute but she's broken and she's brought something important back with her that half the people of the Commonwealth would probably kill for

          She was back and in one piece, she wasn’t hurt but she was broken. Hancock didn’t know what to do when she looked up at him, her eyes wide and wet and the tracks of tears running down her dirty face. That was yesterday and still she hadn’t spoken, at first he’d just held her. letting her cry big shaking sobs until there was nothing left, as her eyes started to close he’d carried her to the bedroom, laying her down on their big bed and curling himself around her. She still didn’t want to talk that morning and had refused to eat, just hiding her face in his chest until he eventually insisted on her at least getting up and having a bath something that usually made her feel better no matter what the situation. This time it didn’t work, she just sat there in the warm water staring silently into space as he ran a cloth over her and made an attempt to wash her long hair,  
          “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, she turned to him with no emotion, her eyes clouded like she was looking at him but not seeing “Oh babe, come back to me, I love you”  
          After helping her out of the bath and back to the bed she simply laid down and went back to sleep, Hancock stood looking at her for a while, he couldn’t keep the worry from showing on his face as he looked at her sleeping form, small and lost in the pile of pillows and blankets on the big bed. Unable to take it anymore he went off to find Fahrenheit, she was his bodyguard true but she was also his friend and he needed a friend right now,  
          “You look like shit Boss” she said, raising her head to him as he entered the office,  
          “Thanks” he said, flopping dramatically down on the big sofa opposite her and throwing his feet on the coffee table in front of him,  
          “She ok?”  
          “No, she’s sleeping though”  
          “What’s wrong, what happened?”  
          “I wish I knew, she won’t talk to me, not a word since she came back”  
          “Want me to try, you know womans touch and all that?”  
          “Fahr I don’t think you have a womans touch… you can take out a supermutant from the bell tower but gentle isn’t really your thing. Besides I think she probably just needs time”  
          “Well I’m offended even if you are right”  
          “What are we working on?” he asked her, glancing halfheartedly at the pile of paper in front of her.

          The bed was swallowing her whole, or was that her grief? the hole in her stomach made her feel sick, the constant ache of hunger lessening the pain of loss. She didn’t know how long she’d been there, she kept falling asleep and waking just to cry before falling back to sleep. Every night she felt Hancock curled around her and she would bury her face in his chest and just cry and cry until she felt empty, used up and broken. He asked her what was wrong and tried to get her to eat but nothing felt appealing, she just couldn’t stomach food and she just couldn’t find the words to say. Days passed, weeks maybe, sometimes when she woke it would be light and she would be laid in the big bed alone, other times dark and he would be laid next to her. Her mind reeled with a million thoughts or felt devoid of any, nothing in between, she just couldn’t make it work right. She thought she might have had dreams, waking up she felt the shape of them but they soon faded away leaving her exhausted again. After what felt like forever she looked at the face of the man she loved and felt her face move in a way she could hardly remember, he looked at her and smiled a reply to the weak version on her lips,  
          “Hancock?” she finally spoke, her voice cracking from the crying and the lack of use,  
          “Yes love?”  
          “Can I talk to you?”  
          “Always you know that, I’m glad you’re talking at all”  
          “I found him”  
          “Who… shaun?”  
          “Yea”  
          “Well that’s great news” he sat up a little in bed, his arms still wrapped around her “wait, you mean you went to the institute?”  
          “Yea”  
          “Well, if you found him where is he?”  
          “Still there… he’s… he’s not really what I expected”  
          “What do you mean?”  
          “He’s… older”  
          “Well you knew he wasn’t a baby anymore, we can still make a go of it though”  
          “No… much older… I didn’t know how much time passed when I was frozen and…” she trailed off to silence and Hancock looked down at her,  
          “Harry love, you can tell me, I’m here no matter what”  
          “Always” she said emotionlessly,  
          “Always”  
          “He’s sixty”  
          “What, how is that…. oh no”  
          “I was frozen for sixty years whilst they had him, he’s an adult… god he’s more than twice my age. I didn’t really think about what it would be like after… after I found him but...”  
          “Oh god, I just assumed we’d get him and figure it out after that, maybe move to sanctuary and raise him together… that was what I hoped for anyway”  
          “It’s all gone his entire life has been spent there, there’s no raising left to do… I’m useless now”  
          “Oh no you are not” the arms wrapped around her tightened pulling her closer, but she wasn’t done yet,  
          “There’s more…. he’s one of them… well he’s… he’s in charge”  
          “Of what love?”  
          “The institute… all of these horrible things, everything the Commonwealth has gone through for god knows how long… it’s all been him” Hancock just kissed her head and held her in silence, like that some time passed and she felt… lighter, until a realisation hit her like a ton of bricks,  
          “Do you still love me?” her head lifted and their eyes met,  
          “Of course, why would I not?”  
          “Because I created a monster” she honestly felt so scared, but he looked at her softly smiling just a little,  
          “The institute created a monster, you cared for a baby and they turned that baby into something horrible”  
          “but he’s… he’s my…. son…”  
          “Look, you provided half his genes, Nate provided the other half, the institute fucked it up. You haven’t done anything but tried to be a good mother and save your child”  
          “Will others see it like that?”  
          “Does anyone else need to know?”  
          “There will be questions… the Brotherhood”  
          “Fuck the Brotherhood, why do you need them? you got what you wanted”  
          “They want this” she reached into a pocket and showed him the holotape that contained all the information the Brotherhood of Steel needed to take down the Institue, this little thing in her hand, it alone was something armies were willing to fight over and she had to decide what to do with it,  
          “What’s on it?”  
          “Everything… it copied every bit of data on any institute computer, this holds everything from the cleaning rota to the darkest secrets they have”  
          “You want to give it to the Brotherhood of wankstains?”  
          “I don’t know, they want it, they’d probably kill for it too but… he’s my son”  
          “He’s not anymore, he’s a monster the Institute created”  
          “Can I just think about it?”  
          “Sure, I can’t say I’ll approve of any decision you make but I’ll be here with you through anything”  
          “I guess I am taking your opinion into account when I think about blowing up a town”  
          “I told you”  
          “Shut up and kiss me, I just want you to take this whole thing away, even just for a second”  
          “I’ll try my best.”

  
          They fell into a fragile routine, Harry felt herself smiling once in awhile, then it was laughing and joking, eventually she got brave enough to venture into Goodneighbour. All in all it was over a month until she felt more or less like herself again, the weight of knowing shaun would never come home still hung around her neck but it slowly became easier to carry. Danse and others from the brotherhood still turned up every once in awhile, they wanted to bring her back to the Prydwen but she hadn’t decided what to do. They were always sent away, sometimes at gunpoint and the promise to leave Goodneighbour alone still held, she knew that at some point they would decide it wasn’t worth it and attack but for now she was worth keeping happy. Harry hadn’t wanted to get the town or it’s Mayor mixed up in all this, she hadn’t known what was coming and no one else knew about shawn so she often got confused looks from the citizens, they wondered why she didn’t just give the Brotherhood what they wanted.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the game glosses over a lot of how it would feel and how a mother would react to missing out on her sons entire life, this chapter is my way of putting into words how I imagine that reaction... I don't have kids though so maybe I'm wrong.


	25. Trinity Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hancock suggests getting out of Goodneighbour to take Harry's mind off things, he also suggests taking Curie with them. The whole thing turns into more adventure than they bargained for... when were things ever simple?

          It was Hancock who suggested that they get out of Goodneighbour for a bit, Harry was so on edge from all the gossip about her and she knew it was making it harder for her to wrap her head around this whole instiute mess. She was a bit more dubious about taking Curie. Over the past few months the robot had become a friend, after all there weren’t really many people who she could talk to about being locked in a Vault for over 200 years who actually understood. She didn’t want to put her in any danger but Hancock was adamant that she’d be fine. Her own robot butler Codsworth was still in Sanctuary, Harry had a similar attitude to him, he was part of the family, well her old family, she supposed all that was really left now and she didn’t want him fighting. Anyway he was much better suited to helping out around the little village than traipsing through monster infested (and dust covered) ruins. She suspected Curie would be the same, in the end they left it up to the robot in question,  
          “Curie wait” Harry said as she buzzed into the room, gave Hancock a short lecture on chem use and went to buzz out again “I want to ask you something”  
          “Oui Miss Monroe how can I help?” the robot said in her charming french accent,  
          “Well actually it’s more a… proposition”  
          “You definitely have my attention Mademoiselle”  
          “Hancock and I were thinking of going out into the Commonwealth to check up on some of the settlements and… well we wondered if you might want to join us?”  
          “Oh OUI yes… I very much would, I had hoped I could see more of your Commonwealth though I am very thankful for Monsieur Hancock’s hospitality I had hoped to learn about the world”  
          “So you think you’ll be ok out there?”  
          “Of course she will, told you already” Hancock piped up from the other side of the room, Harry didn’t really appreciate the implied I told you so and shot him an angry glance,  
          “Oui Monsieur Hancock is right, I will be fine”  
          “Ok Curie, we’ll be heading out tomorrow so… em… do you need to pack anything?”

          The robot actually turned out to be a nifty little fighter, Harry hadn’t realised she had inbuilt defences and only found out when a group of raiders stopped them in their tracks, she had expected frear from Curie but instead she hit them with a hail of laser fire. Shocked at this Harry looked over at Hancock who was grinning like an idiot at her,  
          “You knew didn’t you?” she said to him accusingly as she took a rest between shots,  
          “Sorta” he said, distracted by the raiders gunfire, she stopped what she was doing to look him straight in the eye, one eyebrow raised “ok, I’ve seen Mr Handy’s fight before and they’re really resourceful so I guessed she would be the same… actually I was wrong, she’s better”  
          “So you guessed?” she asked him, not waiting for an answer before turning towards Curie who was being charged by a huge raider. Harry panicked and jumped up to shoot the 6 foot something beast of a man but she was too late, Curie had already made use of a little Buzzsaw attached to one leg and sliced a great gash in his chest getting splattered with blood as he fell convulsing on the ground in front of her “fuck me did you see that?”  
          “We really need to talk about your cursing” Hancock teased. Once the fight was done, mostly through Curie’s efforts, Harry ran over to her first to check no harm had come to her and then to heap her with praise on a job well done,  
          “Seriously Curie that was amazing” Harry said, almost bouncing up and down on the spot in excitement,  
          “I did not know the world up here was so violent” Curie mused, ignoring the compliment,  
          “Violence is a way of life up here sister” Hancock told her “though you seem to suit it pretty well”  
          “I would prefer if there was a lot less of that” she gestured towards the bodies and Harry was sure she would have looked disgusted if she could.

          Harry’s pipboy started making noises as they headed back towards Goodneighbour and Hancock groaned, he knew that sound and it usually meant there would be a lot more fighting and a fair bit less going home. He watched as she looked at the computer on her wrist and her face dropped to something of a scowl,  
          “John… you know that big place full of supermutants that we usually try to avoid?” she asked him with a serious look that didn’t bode well for the future,  
          “Trinity Tower, the place that’s got more supermutants than I’ve got chems?”  
          “That’s the one… there’s a guy in it” she put the speaker on her pipboy to full volume and their little band leaned in to listen to the distress signal “ready for a real challenge guys?”  
          “Oh mademoiselle Harriette is that a wise idea?” the little robot ask buzzing around nervously,  
          “Three of us against those dunderheads… I like those odds” Hancock reloaded and cocked his shotgun with a bloodthirsty grin, hell if it didn’t work out that would be one hell of a way to go, slicing down supermutants with Harry at his side in a desperate bid to rescue a stranger… they’d write ballads about it.  
          Unfortunately after killing the first few the place seemed deserted, sickening with it’s collection of meat bags and a floor slick with blood but they couldn’t even hear giant mutant footsteps or the usual muttering that came with them. He signalled to Harry to stay behind him and headed up the stairs, curie in tow who by now was covered in stains no one would like to name. Other than stumbling over the odd loner traipsing through the halls, who would go down with a spray of blood and a yell they didn’t come across the waves of green uglies they were expecting and Hancock was worried,  
          “This place seem a bit quiet to you?” he whispered to Harry as they crouched by yet another set of stairs that showed no signs of life above them,  
          “You took the words right out of my mouth”  
          “What?”  
          “It’s a saying, means I was about to say the same thing”  
          “THEY WERE WEAK IF A PUNY HUMAN COULD KILL THEM” it was a voice over some sort of speaker system that pulled his attention away from her,  
          “Oh my what could that be?” the little robot asked behind them,  
          “Guess they know we’re here then” Harry said looking momentarily defeated but rallying back to her usual battle worn determination, something deep inside Hancock hurt as he watched her face change from the sweet woman he wanted to protect to the grim look of the veteran. No matter how much he loved that she could take care of herself in a fight (and he did love it if you know what I mean) he still felt that every time she pulled on that mask she lost a little bit of herself.

          They stood on the roof terrace of trinity tower and Harry peered through the bars a Rex Goodman and his “friend”. They’d left a trail of big green bodies behind them but the rather well spoken supermutant in the cage, strong, was warning them more would come. Her shoulder ached and her side felt like it was splitting from the graze of a bullet and she really didn’t feel like fighting more of them, nor did she really feel like being diplomatic and from the low growl at her side Hancock was feeling the same way,  
          “What’s with the supermutant?” she asked Rex, not able to drop her guard yet she might have sounded curt and rude, not that it mattered the man in the cage was almost in tears and blubbering with gratitude at being rescued,  
          “He wants to leave, don’t worry he won’t hurt anyone” she looked over at Hancock who was eyeing the Supermutant suspiciously, when he looked back at her he raised an eyebrow,  
          “Strong want look for milk of human kindness” the green brute said “hurry more of my brothers will come” with little choice but to trust them Harry picked the lock on the gate, not long after all hell broke loose with Supermutants spilling onto the roof in droves. They followed Strong onto a platform that lowered them down the building even though Harry had a sinking feeling about it being a trap somehow. But, despite all reservations they were led down and out of the building where Rex thanked them and made to run off before Harry put out a hand to stop him,  
          “Em… what about him?” she looked tiredly towards the supermutant skulking about the dirty street,  
          “He wants to find the milk of human kindness… I don’t know what to do with him”  
          “Did you bother to tell him it’s a metaphor?”  
          “Have you ever tried explaining what a metaphor is to a supermutant… honestly I tried, he just didn’t get it” she sighed and let him go, really who tries to teach shakespeare to supermutants and then gets shocked when they don’t understand and lock you up or eat you. She turned towards Hancock and gave him a pleading look,  
          “No no no no NOOOOPE NO” he said shaking his head dramatically with wide eyes, “That is one stray too far”  
          “But he has nowhere to go”  
          “So you want to take him to Goodneighbour?” he looked incredulous,  
          “Oh madam that is most unwise” Curie finally twigged onto what was going on, if Harry didn’t know better she’d think the robot looked scared,  
          “I can take him to Sanctuary as soon as I can… he won’t be there long” she made an attempt to pull puppydog eyes but was so exhausted she had no idea if she managed or not, most likely she just looked constipated,  
          “Fine, I can figure something out” Hancock said with a laugh and Harry kissed him and walked drearily over to Strong to tell him what the plan was. Fahrenheit was not going to like this one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next couple of chapters are dealing with companion stories since Harry isn't really in a place to move forward with her own messed up life and I wanted it to be more realistic in the sense that they would still be wanting to be useful but not go through quite so much emotional drama.
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and Kudos... I never in a million years thought my little musings would end up so popular :)


	26. Curie, More Like Cutie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is more than happy to help when Curie has an odd question but Hancock's paranoia and jealousy rears it's ugly head.

          After Harry found out how good Curie was in combat the two of them grew even closer, Hancock was starting to feel the unwelcome sting of jealousy and hung back as the two of them walked ahead chatting away, Strong was even further behind, bringing up the rear and hitting anything that got in his way, even inanimate objects. He just didn’t know how she managed to make friends so easily, sure he was a popular guy and he knew how to hold a crowd but Harry made friends, true lasting friendships and he had little of them. It came as a surprise to him when, after they decided it was too dark to go on, the robot spoke to him first, humming over to him that evening where he sat by a campfire in a haze of jet and Harry was busy talking to strong, from what little he could hear she was explaining what keeping watch meant,  
          “I have to ask you something Monsieur Hancock and I am worried at how it will sound” if a robot could look nervous this one was doing it,  
          “Fire away sister” he said, simply leaning back against a wall and taking a drag on his cig, he figured this might be a long one so he may as well get comfy,  
          “You know that is a terrible habit” she scolded him,  
          “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”  
          “Oh no… no not at all it is something very different. You see I have been collecting so much data in our travels already but I wonder I am missing something, a certain spark of ingenuity that a robot just isn’t capable of and I did not wish to bring this up to mademoiselle Harry in case she thought me… incapable”  
          “I don’t think she really thinks like that Curie… but you can always bounce ideas off me if you need it”  
          “Oh what a kind offer but I wonder that it will not suffice, I think perhaps I need something more, like the opportunity to become human myself somehow”  
          “Not sure I can help you there… ask Harry, she might come up with a plan” he said, wanting to assure her that Harry would listen but in all honesty the idea worried him, the two were so close now that… well he always worried Harry would see something better than him and realise it’s what she deserved.  
Always full of ideas and surprisingly not intimidated by the idea, Harry dragged them back to Goodneighbour to see Dr Amari the very second she realised what Curie wanted, if anyone could help it would be Amari, she worked with brains and being able to put someone’s life experience in someone else’s head… it would be hard but it would be possible. They dropped strong off at the gate and left him to it, he seemed to prefer hanging about outside the town more than coming in it and he really was a good deterrent for things like raider attacks.  
          They got Curie to Amari quickly and explained the situation, at first the doctor was shocked but it didn’t take her long to become intrigued by the idea. The plan was formed and a brain dead synth was brought in, someone whose mind had been erased during the memory wipe procedure, it happened sometimes a sad risk that had to be taken. It worked though, after the robot was hooked up with wires falling everywhere around her body and the synth laid lovingly onto the pillows of the pod by a woman Hancock thought he recognised in the back of his mind. The robot Curie was no more and in front of them stood the woman,  
          “How do you feel?” Harry asked as she wobbled a little in front of them,  
          “This feels… strange” Curie answered and Hancock’s heart dropped, that perfect french accent, the old robots personality and now it was all wrapped in an adorable, tiny, short haired synth with bright eyes and a questioning gaze, he didn’t stand a chance. Purposefully he hid how he felt and asked,  
          “You good Curie?” in a forced positive voice,  
          “Curie? more like cutie, this body is perfect for you” Harry said just deepening his worry and making him feel so… lost… inadequate.

          She felt like Hancock was avoiding her, almost a whole week had passed since Curies procedure and she was doing really well, Harry had been giving her so much of her time to help her, showing her around, giving her little lessons, hell she even had to help the woman walk for a while. Now Hancock was being distant, maybe he was jealous of all the time she had been spending with Curie, maybe he was trying not to influence her big decision on the institute whatever it was she didn’t like it. The final straw was when she entered the room they usually shared one evening and he wasn’t there like he usually would be, instead she was faced with an empty room and the cavernous bed and a deep fear that he could be anywhere. She found him in his office, asleep or passed out on one of the couches in there, his body was laid up and his tricorn sat over his face, she could hear the loud noises of his snoring beneath it. She gave the edge of the offending furniture a quick kick that shook him awake, throwing his hat to the floor, and glared down at him,  
          “What’s up princess?” he asked groggily, his face a map of confusion,  
          “You’re sleeping on the sofa now?” Harry was trying not to sound so accusing but really struggled when she felt like he was hiding something,  
          “Nahh… just fell asleep is all” he tried to rub sleep from his face and pulled himself up laboriously,  
          “What the hell Hancock? What’s up with you lately?”  
          “Just… thinking… I’m fine” she scoffed at this not quick to believe him,  
          “You’re not fine, I can see it and I’m starting to loose my patience”  
          “Look love I just don’t want to talk about it until I’ve got my head around it ok?” he grabbed at her waist and pulled her down to him, she sat at his side reluctantly, pouting “I promise I’ll talk soon”  
          “Promise?”  
          “Promise… you have my word as a gentleman”  
          “Well that’s about as much use as a chocolate teapot” she said, the smile returning to her voice, she never could be mad at him long when he looked at her like that, big black puppydog eyes and held her waist like he was, his hands moving in comforting circles,  
          “What’s a chocolate teapot?”  
          “A teapot made of chocolate… it’s a saying”  
          “It’d be useless… it’d melt”  
          “That’s the point”  
          “Are you saying my word as a gentleman is useless”  
          “You’re not really much of a gentleman are you Hancock”  
          “I’ll show you how much of a gentleman I am” he said with a wry grin before pushing her down on the seat of her sofa, pulling up her dress and diving under. He tickled her hips and she wriggled clutching at him through the fabric of her dress trying to stop his determined fingers but to no avail,  
          “Stop it… hahaha… Hancock stop” he paid no attention to her pleas, waiting for his chance and the second she lifted one leg to try and push him away he was on her, resting his face against the cotton of her knickers between her legs, still tickling her at the same time as making her groan at his warm breath on her sex “oh god Hancock”  
          “What? what am I doing?” he flicked out his tongue and licked at the fabric, the sudden friction of it caused Harry to gasp in between giggling. Moving one hand from her waist he pulled her underwear aside and caressed her clit with the tip of his tongue, sending a sharp flash of pleasure that cut through her ticklishness for a second making her moan. Gently caressing her folds with one hand he continued to tickle her with the other, the feeling of his hands doing two such different things made Harry feel shaky,  
          “Stop it… oh god John stop” she begged him, trying to moan and laugh at the same time, moaning winning out when he pushed his fingers inside her and she felt a warmth building as they moved slowly and he still ministered her clit with his tongue,  
          “Stop what?” he asked, pausing to take a breath before returning his mouth to her pussy, she was crying now, the sensations of laughing and being pleasured at the same time starting to overstimulate her brain. As the ghouls fingers sped up inside her she thought her head might pop,  
          “Stop ticka… ohhhhh fuuuck… tickling me” her head was filling and she could feel herself giving in to the feelings running around her, the familiar sensation of an orgasm building in her groin,  
          “Ok” he stopped the tortuous movements of the hand at her waist and moved it to pull her legs further apart, pushing his fingers deeper as she came closer to reaching her peak, now she was panting and wailing at his touch. with one last whorl of his tongue and twist of his fingers she fell to her climax, her legs twitching around him as her mind switched off and she gave in to the wave of satisfaction washed over her,  
          “Hows that for gentlemanly?” Hancock asked, she just looked at him with heavy lidded eyes and a contented smile all thoughts of arguments lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like with Hancock I have played the game more than once and every single time have ended up romancing Curie, I just can't help it, she just too damn adorable! In game I've been traveling with Hancock chanting "I will not romance the sexy ghoul, I will not romance the sexy ghoul"... it probably wont work.


	27. You Promised You'd Always Be There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Harry makes an important decision she doesn't exactly get the reaction she had been hoping for.

          “I know what I want to do” Harry announced one afternoon, she had asked Fahrenheit to take Cuire out and give her a shooting lesson in her place so that she and Hancock could talk,  
          “And what’s that love?” he slurred a little as he spoke, he was high, a good thing considering what Harry was about to say, she had tossed and turned and lost sleep over this and spent so long trying to think of how to say it,  
          “Well… I spent all this time looking for Shaun, now I’ve found him I can’t just turn my back on him because he’s not what I expected so… I’m going to join the institute” she closed her eyes to wait for the shouting, the hate, Hancock just sat forward and put his head in his hands,  
          “I thought you were better than this Harry” he sighed in a disappointed way, he couldn’t even look at her and somehow that quiet dismay was far worse than if he had shouted. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat,  
          “I know, but he’s my son no matter what” she could feel his anger bubbling up under his calmness and just wished he’d let it out at least then they could get past this,  
          “He’s a monster, your son is gone Harry” this stabbed at her like the knife in his pocket only his words were sharper, she grimaced and she still couldn’t look at his face, instead she studied the splintered wood beneath her boots.  
          “You said you’d support me” she mumbled,  
          “I am, I’m helping you make the right decision here”  
          “So you’re on my side but only if I choose the side you want me to?” her voice was raising, she knew she should be calmer but he just… god he was so pig headed,  
          “NO I support you when you’re not being an IDIOT” so he was shouting too at least she knew she got to him even as she stared at the floor,  
          “I’M NOT LETTING YOU BULLY ME INTO MAKING A CHOICE BETWEEN YOU AND MY SON” she yelled and he scoffed at her which made her finally look at his face twisted with anger and hatred,  
          “I wouldn’t make you do that because I know you’d choose him”  
          “DON’T PRETEND YOU KNOW WHAT I’M THINKING”  
          “YOU AREN’T THINKING THAT’S THE PROBLEM” he stood up and charged towards her, for a second she worried he might hit her but he just pulled up close enough to look her in the eye,  
          “I’M THINKING OF MY SON”  
          “AFTER EVERYTHING HE’S DONE TO A COMMONWEALTH YOU PRETEND TO LOVE?” he shouted at her causing her to throw up her hands and turn away but he grabbed her arm and turned her back to face him, she could feel her arm burning where his hand held her firm and wondered if it was just her imagination that caused that fire,  
          “GET OFF ME” she tugged her arm out of his grasp painfully “AFTER EVERYTHING I’VE DONE YOU SAY I PRETEND TO LOVE THE COMMONWEALTH?”  
          “YES, YOU’RE SIDING WITH THE BIG BAD WOLF!” with an exasperated growl he turned and slammed his fists into the wall beside him, a little crumbled plaster scattered the floor at his feet,  
          “I’M SIDING WITH MY CHILD!”  
          “YOU’RE HIDING BEHIND YOUR SON AS AN EXCUSE” he charged again and threw his hands up at her, passionate as always his deep black eyes only inches from her and filled with thunder. Harry’s eyes darted around the room for something to defend herself with as the anger threatened to burst her chest,  
          “LIKE YOU HIDE BEHIND CHEMS YOU MEAN”  
          “GOD HARRY THAT’S LOW” he put his face right in hers and almost spat the words at her, his voice harsh and loud, she grabbed at a vase next to her at least giving her hands something to do,  
          “NOT AS LOW AS MAKING ME CHOOSE” her fingers tightened round the cold ceramic and she just glared at him,  
          “I’M NOT MAKING YOU CHOOSE, I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW WHAT A FOOL YOU’RE BEING” **SMASH** the vase flew across the room, Harry wasn’t even aware she’d moved her hand until it was done and the shards were on the floor, “FUCK HARRY, STOP ACTING LIKE A CHILD”  
          “A CHILD? GIVE ME SOME CREDIT JOHN” she used his name like a knife and his face clearly showed the pain she’d been aiming to cause,  
          “A CHILD WOULDN’T BE THIS PETTY”  
          “IF I’M THAT DAMN PETTY THEN WHY DO YOU LOVE ME?”  
          “MAYBE I DON’T, MAYBE I CAN’T LOVE SOMEONE WHO’S GOING OFF TO HELP A MONSTER” she reeled for a second confused and close to tears, the anger turning into a lump in her throat she couldn’t swallow,  
          “you… you don’t…” she stuttered before the anger swelled up again “MAYBE I CAN’T LOVE SOMEONE WHO WILL LIE TO ME”  
          “WHEN DID I LIE TO YOU HARRY”  
          “YOU PROMISED YOU’D BE AT MY SIDE NO MATTER WHAT, YOU PROMISED YOU’D ALWAYS BE THERE” she pulled his own words at him and dangled them in his face like evidence in a trial,  
          “I CAN’T BE AT THE SIDE OF A MONSTER” her eyes widened and she gritted her teeth… so I’m a monster now am I,  
          “FINE… I’LL LEAVE YOU TO YOUR LITTLE ADDICTION, DON’T COME LOOKING FOR ME” she spun on her heel and slammed the door, taking the stairs two at a time and sweeping dramatically from the building with a slam of the door that made the walls almost rattle.

          Deep down Hancock knew the fight hadn’t been about the Institute, hell maybe she could do some good there, have the chance to sort the place out and persuade them to stop messing with people's lives. He just lost it, after over a week of watching her with the cute little ex robot he just snapped, couldn’t hold back the anger that was really aimed at himself. Once again he’d fucked things up and got scared and now he’d thrown away the best thing that ever happened to him, it was he always did, run away when things got too hard, when real life hit. A knock on the door let him know it was done and Fahr let herself in to look at him slouched over his desk, mentats tin empty in front of him and a used syringe in his hand,  
          “Boss” she said, a little nervously,  
          “Fuck off Fahr” his voice came out reedy and weak, he hadn’t expected that,  
          “Wanna… I don’t know… talk?” she sounded out of her depth, scared without the tough girl face and having to deal with something deep like this,  
          “Where’s the robot… well ex-robot I guess” he could easily guess the answer but he just wanted to distract himself for a second, just one moment without the ache,  
          “She took her”  
          “You can say her name you know, it’s not like it’ll burn me or anything”  
          “Ok Harry took her” despite assuring Fahr of the opposite it did hurt, he winced a little at the name as though he’d been bitten,  
          “What did she say?” he wasn’t sure he cared but maybe it had been something important, maybe he just wanted the chance to hear her words one last time no matter how much it hurt,  
          “She just grabbed the girl said “Fahr he’s all yours” and marched off, well she picked up a few guns first… want me to go after her?”  
          “No” _yes_  
          “Boss she wasn’t even wearing armor”  
          “That’s her problem, she probably took Strong anyway” _save her_  
          “So… it this it?”  
          “Guess so” _it can’t be_  
          “How did this all start?” _with me being an idiot_  
          “She’s going to the institute, to be with her son” the words came out like ashes, sticking in his mouth even after he said them, he was in love with the enemy and there was nothing he could do but wallow.

          Harry made sure that Curie was safe, in her old bed at Oberland station in fact and made sure someone was on hand to keep up with her lessons in shooting and generally being human. It had taken a while to convince the settlers there that Strong was ok and was there to protect Curie but eventually they agreed to let him stay and he agreed to look after the little synth. She then transported herself to the institute, a great big clean white place that should have felt wonderful compared to the wasteland but it didn’t, it felt clinical, soulless. Harry sighed thinking about all she had given up just to be at her son’s side, it made her heart ache to think of the freedoms she’d lost, the people she cared about and Hancock, that sacrifice hurt most of all. She had hoped he could be here with her but looking at the meticulous blank space she just couldn’t picture him here, he was all bright colours and crudeness and fun, the exact opposite of this place.  
          Shaun… Father was in his rooms when she found him, he greeted her with a coldness, saying the right words in the right order with no real emotion, this was her new life now and she had to get used to it. He had a job for her, an escaped synth had taken over a raider gang and had to be stopped so he was sending his own mother into the firing line with little worry. At least she’d have help, X6-88 was all about the task at hand and she guessed he wouldn’t know what small talk was but he was a good fighter and really that was all she needed, emotions just got in the way. The gang themselves were situated on a flotilla of boats, rafts and other odd assortments of anything that floated and in climbing to the top of a half submerged ship she felt like she was entering the world of pirates and princesses. After the deed had been done and the synth returned she sat at the top of that ship, dangling her feet and looking out over the Commonwealth, she couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of Hancock there, right at home on a pirate ship.  
          Upon their return Sha-Father was impressed, x6-88 was impressed, every synth and scientist there gave her kind words and she felt defeated by all the politeness they showed her, switching off any hope of real happiness she gave in to the concept of a life in this place and being sent to control the synths on the surface.  
          Harry was slowly becoming one of them, losing everything that made her unique when she remembered a promise she had made long ago and prepared for one last act of rebellions against a son that was twice her age.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so sorry... I'm a mean puppet master who likes to watch her puppets suffer


	28. The Truth Will Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry knows, deep down, that the Institute are bad and that her son has done horrible things but just tries to push that thought to the back of her mind and get on with things, however when the truth is right in front of her like this she can't ignore it any longer.

          Harry made sure to greet everyone in bioscience like friends, they needed to not suspect a thing as she walked confidently towards the far end of the overly white room and a door locked with a laser grid. Thankfully she didn’t think she caught anyone's attention too much and the terminal on the wall was easy enough to get into so she slipped inside, making sure to raise the grid again behind her. The room beyond was dark, some sort of hallway lit by a deep red light, why would they choose red? It left the place feeling ominous and eerie so she turned on her pip boy light before continuing feeling a little better for it’s warm glow. The defences were a joke, a couple of laser turrets that aimed at her and missed as she rounded the corner and jumped back behind the wall, a couple of shots took them out with no problem and she found the lab itself. She froze to the spot and stared in horror at two big tanks in the center of the room, dominating it actually, inside where sickening corpses twisted half way between supermutant and human, they made her sick. Both of them were suspended in a liquid making them easier to examine, though Harry didn’t exactly want to move closer. Each one was suspended in time as the green pustules broke out on their skin, bones looked to be twisted and stretching into new shapes and by the looks on their faces they had been aware of the whole thing, awake and feeling it as their bodies ripped themselves apart and formed into something new. She couldn’t look any longer and turned away to throw up in a corner, all the horror spilling out until all she had was bile.  
          Trying her hardest not to look at the huge dominating tanks she managed to find what she was looking for, a serum to help Dr Virgil become human again though at this point she wasn’t sure why he would want to throw his hand in with humans. She should have left then, should have turned around and walked away, got on with her life and lived in ignorance. She shouldn’t have unlocked the computer on the nearby or listened to the holotape that laid next to it but she did, she read in depth reports on each test subject, about how they had screamed in pain and begged for it to stop, how each of them had been twisted into the gory thing before her. Most of them hadn’t survived, the ones that did were killed anyway and dissected some had begged for death others had spoken about their families as they died in agony and all of it written in cold clinical detail. There were names too, some of them she recognised as people replaced by synths and the sick realisation hit her that this, or places like it, was where the kidnapped ended up to be experimented on like they were nothing, these were people with homes, families. The holotape was from Virgil, it played like a confession in which he explained how he had begged Father to stop these experiments but he had refused so the Doctor had taken it into his own hands. What had been call an “accident” was nothing of the sort, Virgil had purposefully gone through that horrific process so that others wouldn’t have to.  
          She couldn’t stay there, the idea that her son… her little baby could do something so sickening, so heartless and be completely aware of the pain and she had almost stood by him and just watched, she was broken. With tears easily streaming from her eyes and her stomach doing backflips she just ran, all instincts telling her to get out she behaved like a cornered animal darting from one place to another hell bent on escape. Her animal mind was blocking all thoughts but eventually one made it through, she could just transport and blindly she opened the map on her pip boy and pressed on it.

          It had been a week since “the fight” and things in Goodneighbour were returning to normal, Hancock was acting like his usual happy go lucky self and everyone had relaxed around him. Only Fahr knew how bad it was, that he was taking twice as many chems just to keep going and he had returned to sleeping on the sofa or in his cupboard room on the rare occasions that he slept at all. No one mentioned Harry anymore, he was sick of the word and every time someone brought her up he would get a little more on edge, at least until he pulled a knife on someone for asking about her, that had shut them all up.  
          He was half listening to Daisy complain about something, he couldn’t concentrate but at the same time needed distractions so he tried his hardest to pay attention to what she was saying. Suddenly the world flashed blue like a lightning strike and Daisy yelled out her name... Harry… and he couldn’t breathe or think he just ran around out of the shop and there she was, stood in the street the last crackles of electricity falling from her frame, a look of desperation on her face. Hancock didn’t care who was looking, if he could form a coherent thought he still wouldn’t he just ran to her and pulled her into his arms,  
          “Harry… love… I’m so sorry” he forced out and suddenly he could breathe again, holding her in his arms like he would never let go again, “love… what’s wrong?”  
          “You... right… horrible… I’m a monster” were all he could make out as she buried her face deep into his coat and clung at his waist,  
          “It’s ok love, you aren’t a monster… come in, we’ll talk” he somehow managed to maneuver the two of them into the statehouse without letting her go and when he went to sit her on the sofa she whined and pulled in closer “oh sunshine I’m not letting you go, just sitting us down… now what’s the matter?”  
          “It was horrible” she lifted her head to say before burying it again,  
          “You’re gonna have to be more specific… want something to help you calm down?” she nodded into his shoulder and he awkwardly pulled a dose of jet out of his pocket whilst reaching around her limpet like arms, “love, you’ll have to let go to take this”  
          “Oh… ok” she pulled away from him just enough to let the nozzle slip into her mouth, he pushed down on it and felt her tense against him, then in stages she started to relax and lean against him without gripping on for dear life,  
          “That better?” he asked after he felt her melt a bit,  
          “Yes… I’m sorry” she raised her face to look at him and he smiled down at her, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and run his fingers down her neck to rest at her collarbone,  
          “For what love?”  
          “Everything… all of this… the fight… running away… everything” she futilely attempted to gesture but gave up and put her arm back at his waist, holding less tightly this time,  
          “Me too love, I said some horrible things I didn’t mean and I thought I’d lost you forever” his breath hitched to stop himself from crying… there weren’t enough chems in the world to make this easy,  
          “I went to the institute, you were right he isn’t my son anymore, he’s a monster… it was horrible”  
          “Did they do something to you?” he asked concerned  
          “No… not to me but… they were experimenting on people, turning them to supermutants and just… watching” she shivered at the last word and he felt a chill come over him too,  
          “Oh god… is that what happened to the kidnapped people?” she nodded “we need to do something”  
          “Do you still love me?” she asked out of the blue after they had sat in silence for some time, just wrapped in each other,  
          “I don’t think I could stop even if I wanted to” he said with total honesty, over the past week he had tried too,  
          “I love you as well, I’m sorry I said I didn’t”  
          “All is forgiven, will you forgive me?”  
          “You were mostly right so yes”  
          “I was wrong about you… you could never be a monster and you could never hurt people like that” he laid his face on her head and just breathed in the smell of her, letting it fill him and wash away the ache. No one got this lucky and here he was with the most amazing person he’d ever met wrapped in his arms and all his… she came back to him and nothing on earth would make him chase her away again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Put this one up a bit earlier than I usually would to make up for making everyone so sad and worried by my last one. Although I do have to say it means a lot to me that my writing is good enough to be able to coax those emotions out of people, so thank you all for commenting :)


	29. What Next

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry doesn't know who to turn to to help her, it would be easier to think if Hancock would let her sleep.

         

 

          “What about the Railroad?” Harry looked up from where her pip boy rested on the wood of his desk, she was tired of thinking about this but it needed to be done,  
          “Who?” he chuckled at her and she assumed it was her confused expression or the fatigue that drained her face that amused him so much, either way she wasn’t impressed “John I can’t think straight, this would be easier if you’d let me sleep”  
          “I didn’t exactly hear you complaining last night… or the night before if I recall” since she had come back from the institute he couldn’t keep his hands off her and it wasn’t like she wasn’t feeling the same. It was like they were making up for lost time although she hadn’t realised they’d lost this much time, she grinned back at him and softened,  
          “That’s because I wasn’t… ok explain to me who the Railroad are as though you’re talking to a child… or someone who’s pretty much been bonking for the past two day straight”  
          “Bonking? really?” he lifted his lack of eyebrow at her,  
          “Yes… bonking” she lifted her actual eyebrow in return,  
          “Well saying something like that does make it easier to picture you as a child… not in that way… oh god I just realised how that sounded” he pulled a disgusted face then shook his head,  
          “I guess you must be as tired as me… come on, who are the railroad?”  
          “They’re not anything more than an urban legend really, everyone says they help synths but it’s not like anyone has proof… I’ve always kinda suspected they were doing something in Goodneighbour but was always happy to just leave them to it… until now that is”  
          “So your answer to who can help us is pretty much Santa?”  
          “Who’s Santa?” both of them were being very easily distracted and this question would throw them off on a tangent… Harry thought about the best way to answer it as quickly as possible,  
          “Mythical creature, brought children presents at Christmas, sometimes call Father Christmas” she said fast trying to get it over with, unfortunately his face brightened and she knew she’d peaked his interest,  
          “Wait he just gave stuff away… for free?”  
          “Well no… only kids thought he was real, the parents bought the presents”  
          “So they didn’t see him?” she sighed, this might take a while,  
          “He would come down the chimney at night, no one “saw” him unless it was some guy dressed in a suit, can we get back to the railroad now, if they do exist how can I find them?”  
          “Follow the freedom trail. What if you didn’t have a chimney?”  
          “Magic… what’s the freedom trail?”  
          “Dunno, something I heard is all “to find the railroad follow the freedom trail”. Santa was magic?”  
          “Santa wasn’t real, any gaps in the story and you’d just say “it’s magic”. I think I remember the freedom trail, some pre-war tourist thing Nate tried to drag me round once” it felt a bit like they were having two conversations at once which probably made sense in Hancock’s chem fueled brain but she was far far too sober for this,  
          “So he was magic and broke into people’s houses and left presents?” oh thank god the second conversation was over,  
          “Yes now will you shut up” she stood and made her way around the desk, she knew one easy way to keep him quiet, well stop him talking anyway. First she bent over and gave him a soft, lingering kiss then got on her knees in front of where he was lounging in his big, wingback chair,  
          “Why didn’t he take anything?” she reached up and undid his fly, he was already a little erect and a few strokes with her soft hands did the rest, he moaned contentedly and shifted around to make it easier for her to reach, placing his hands behind his head,  
          “He took milk and cookies and a carrot for his reindeer” she said before leaning in and running her tongue around the tip of his penis, he growled which made her laugh,  
          “What the hell is a reinde…. fuck it who cares” he interrupted himself when she wrapped her lips around his cock, still working it with her nimble tongue she laughed again, a simple thing that made him kick out his hips and moan, “oh shit Harry I should make you laugh when you’re sucking my dick more often” she laughed again and was rewarded with the same reaction before letting his cock slide down her throat a few times as he grunted and moaned. His hands were on the back of her head, twined in her hair and putting just a little pressure on her, she quickened the pace taking his whole shaft into her until she couldn’t take anymore. When she moved her head up and down she could feel him pushing so every now and then she would bob her head lower and take him down further or stop and lick up and down his shaft,  
          “Fuck this” he exclaimed and pulled her off him, lifting her to her feet he slipped off her dress and rubbed at her already wet pussy under her panties whilst she took off her bra, he pulled on the white cotton briefs and as soon as she was naked maneuvered her over him. She lowered onto his stiff cock and groaned as she felt the delicious sensation of fullness, his hands on her waist signalled her to move and she circled her hips around on him, feeling his penis slide away, followed by the same delectable filling. Her hips moved faster as his bucked against her, thrusting into her and bringing a short sharp cry from her lips as each movement came as a surprise and shot through her body. Soon she was using her powerful legs to lift herself almost completely off him then falling back down and enjoying the staggering pleasure each time she did. They were both panting and she cried out and threw her head back only to feel a hand on her cheek pulling it back down,  
          “Let me see, I want to watch you come” this sent her over the edge and, with a scream and a screwing up of her face she climaxed, true to his word Hancock watched until it was too good to take and he spilled inside her. They sat there for a while, a panting sweaty heap, skin against clothes, her head on his shoulder and her breath tickling his jaw, all too soon there was a knock at the door,  
          “Give up a sec” Hancock shouted and he helped Harry to stand and slip on her dress over her nakedness,  
          “Boss if you’re done fucking someone’s here to see you” came Fahrenheit’s voice through the wood,  
          “I would prefer it if you could be less crude in my presence” well that voice was unmistakable as was the air of stick up the butt about it, what was Danse doing here?  
          “You ok to see him?” Hancock whispered, Harry simply nodded, this was it... she would have to tell him about her decision to leave the Brotherhood, why did it have to be him that showed up?

          The Fucking Knight in shining armour with a superiority complex was here again, the two of them had just started getting into a normal space after everything that had happened and here was that dick to take her away again,  
          “What do you want Danse?” Hancock spat at him, he still despised the man and would be happy to never see him again,  
          “As usual I’m not here to see you Ghoul” the soldier said, turning to Harry. Hancock just glared at him, worried for his girl but most of all full of rage at the perfect smoothskin that always took her away from him, “you haven’t reported back after you infiltrated the institute Knight… you did infiltrate the institute didn’t you?”  
          “Yes I did” Hancock looked over at her, she was stood looking at the man straight backed and defiant, ready for a fight “but I am not a Knight”  
          “What exactly do you mean by that?” the infuriatingly formal tin can asked, a stubborn look on his own face, the tension in the room was rising and if this Brotherhood of Dicks lackey took one step towards his Harry he’d do something rash. Only Fahrenheit lounging in the corner looked unaffected by the situation, then again he’d seen her beat a man to death with a fire poker wearing much the same nonchalant expression,  
          “I’m leaving the Brotherhood, I don’t want any part of your racist, bigoted organisation anymore” Hancock was proud but the Paladin honestly looked hurt, He knew he loved the Brotherhood but he also loved the woman in front of him insulting the whole institution he was part of,  
          “You… you can’t” he stuttered, pain evident in his voice  
          “Why can’t I? I’m not a slave I can do what I want”  
          “The Brotherhood takes desertion very seriously” _yea, I’m sure they do,_ Hancock thought to himself, he had a feeling the soldiers would act like a psychotic jilted lover and any deserters would find a bunny in a stewpot pretty soon,  
          “I don’t care, I’m done”  
          “You can’t honestly think there won’t be repercussions to this action?” by now Danse had regained his anger and no longer looked hurt,  
          “Are you threatening her?” Hancock stepped forward coming to Harry’s defence, not that she really needed it,  
          “I am simply explaining what she can expect if she continues down this path”  
          “I. Don’t. Care.” she said, enunciating each word like she was talking to a child  
          “And the Holotape you were supposed to bring back from the institute, it is Brotherhood property and we will get it back one way or another”  
          “I don’t have it” she lied, it was in a draw in the bedroom she shared with Hancock hidden as best they could manage until she decided what to do with it, the soldier had gone red, he looked as though he was about to pop,  
          “What have you done with it?” he demanded,  
          “It’s at the bottom of the river” she lied again, any excuse not to pass it on to the Brotherhood of cockwombles,  
          “What exactly has the Brotherhood done to cause you to act with such contempt” despite how angry Danse looked Hancock could sense the upset behind these words, he thought about how much this would be tearing him apart if he were in the tin can’s shoes,  
          “Look Danse, I don’t do this to hurt you… I like you and I would consider you a good friend but… you’re one of the good guys and you’re a rare thing in the Brotherhood, I’ve seen what Maxson wants to do to the Commonwealth from up there safe surrounded by metal and people who would die for him. I didn’t want to tell you like this but you must have known it was coming, look at my friends, the people I choose to trust, you can’t have thought my ideals would align with yours”  
          “We have done so much for you… I have…” he trailed off unable to say whatever he was really thinking,  
          “And I returned the favour, look trust that the institute will be destroyed you have my word on that but I won’t let it be replaced by an army run by a psychopath who would kill half my friends if he had the chance. I will stop the institute and I will drive the Brotherhood out of my Commonwealth and I will give you one chance to abandon them and join me”  
          “You will what?” both Danse and Hancock said in unison,  
          “I know you aren’t from here, but the people of the commonwealth are worth fighting for, you must have seen that Danse, leave the brotherhood and help us” The soldier just looked at her, mouth open, shocked at the audacity, Hancock was feeling much the same but he was hopefully less obvious about it,  
          “Never, you have betrayed me more than you will ever know but…. I still… wish you the best. Harry no matter what you do I will always care for you, I just can’t stand by and see you do this to the people who have given me so much. If your mind is made up then this is goodbye… most likely forever”  
          “I suppose it is… goodbye Danse I hope…” she couldn’t finish the thought and stood proud but crestfallen as her friend turned to leave. Hancock looked at her face as she watched his back right up until the doors closed behind him,  
          “Are you ok?” he asked not entirely sure he would like the answer  
          “I am I just… maybe in another world, at another time we could have been… friends. He really is a great man you know, loyal to a fault and kind, those arseholes just got him so young taught… no brainwashed him into hating everything they hate”  
          “I know love, I can’t stand him but I know he has been good to you maybe if he hadn’t… if it hadn’t been this way I wouldn’t have hated him so much” he wasn’t positive about this, after all the man had still tried to steal her away but maybe he wasn’t all bad, very few people where “what now?”  
          “Now? well I suppose we try to find the railroad… follow the freedom trail”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because it would be REALLY REALLY hard to explain something like Santa to someone who doesn't know.


	30. The Railroad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the freedom trail isn't exactly a walk in the park.

          The beeping filled her ears as the suicider lurched towards her, Harry had managed to get herself backed into a corner by one of their mutts and now the nuke toting giant was headed right for both of them. She was left with one option, she felt the burning from the mininuke as the thing went up in an 8 foot mushroom cloud, it had been so close when she had aimed and shot the bomb in it’s hand. The poor mutt didn’t make it, it’s back end had burned, the charcoal black fading as it came closer to it’s head but she had made it, just. Now to find Hancock, he had drawn off as many muties as he could, yelling and firing his shotgun, it was a useful tactic and she knew it she just worried every time he turned a corner and vanished from sight. They had been walking the dangerous route of the freedom trail and had already killed a gaggle of ghouls, a rabble of raiders and a gang of gunners, they were outside Faneuil when she’d spotted these supermutants. Unfortunately they had spotted her too.  
          He appeared again grinning like an idiot with the usual “ya miss me?” she was honestly starting to think he really was immortal, if she didn’t love him so much she might try cutting off his head. As it was she did love him and was glad to have him back at her side, she let him know this by throwing her arms around him and giving him a big, loud, theatrical kiss, he chuckled,  
          “I always worry when you run off” she said, pouting,  
          “Well if you keep welcoming me back like that I’ll do it more” he grabbed her arse, causing her to jump up onto her toes which amused him greatly,  
          “It’s not like I save kissing you for special occasions… or doing anything else really”  
          “Speaking of, ever had sex on top of a mutants corpse?”  
          “God you’re sick” she gave him a playful tap on the shoulder,  
          “I know” he was still grinning like an idiot when she had to grab his sleeve to make him leave, she genuinely hoped his was joking about the supermutant corpse thing.  
          The trail ended at an old church Harry vaguely remembered from Nate, he was always the history buff and would drag her around these places. She remembered it being beautiful… it wasn’t beautiful now. The building itself stood quite in tact but inside was a different story, the large organ had fallen through the floor and now laid at an odd angle pipes bent or broken and where it had fallen the floorboards were ripped up bringing the pews crashing down into it. It was also full of feral ghouls, she heard Hancock let out a sigh, she knew full well how much he hated killing ferals and she didn’t blame him after all he was still sometimes mistaken for one despite his obvious bright red coat. The first one to spot the pair lept at her, leaving a scratch from a long fingernail down her neck, she could hear her geiger counter ticking and knew she couldn’t take many more hits like that without getting radiation sickness. She filled the thing full of bullets before it climbed back up from the floor, Hancock sliced his sword through the next, taking off it’s head before it had the chance to get to her, the way it hissed at the pain as the blade sliced it’s skin made her feel sick. Another limped slowly from behind a pew, a quick bullet between the eyes ripped through whatever it had left of a brain and it fell, never to get up again. A couple further away got sniper bullets through their heads and chests before they really knew what was happening, Hancock took off to see if anymore were waiting in the room and she heard him slicing through something before he returned. She looked at him making the pain evident in her eyes,  
          “I know love, I hate killing them too” he really did understand how she felt, these empty shrivelled husks had once been people and even though they were mad and had little reason to live they had the right to. But they wouldn’t hesitate to kill her so they had to be taken down, for her safety more than anything else. The two of them, now sure nothing was going to jump out, searched the ruined building for any clue of where to go next,  
          “HEY SISTER, OVER HERE” Hancock shouted her from one end of the room, she ran over to him and saw what he was so excited about, an oil lamp symbol painted above a doorway beyond which stairs led down.  
The tunnels below were lit by some sort of luminescent paint and again full of feral ghouls, Harry was starting to feel the effect of the irradiated scratch not to mention the exhaustion from all the previous fights and the long walks in between. Still these ferals were spaced out and alone so didn’t take too much killing, one feral is easy twelve at once not so much. She really wasn’t in a good mood when bright lights were shone in her face and someone she could only just see started barking out questions, she kept her replies short and curt and just tried to bite her tongue and not snap painfully aware that she needed these people to help her. When the other guy showed the lights dimmed a little and she could see the four of them, one in the middle was an older woman who had some grace about her, she seemed to be constantly chain smoking, beside her was a man and a woman holding miniguns. The man who had just walked in was cocky, a swagger to his walk and black hair and sunglasses, not only were they inside but the place was about 10 foot under ground and he was wearing sunglasses! He started singing her praises and seemed to know her whole life story, well the post cryo bit anyway. It was the final straw,  
          “Who the hell are you and how do you know everything about me?” she snapped at him not even bothering to conceal the rage anymore,  
          “You know, you’re practically famous” he said with a cheeky wink she just glared at him, she didn’t like the guy and could tell there was something off about him, something she couldn’t quite place her finger on. What he said worked though and they were let into the cramped, low ceilinged room that made for their HQ, it was claustrophobic and made Harry long to be outside which didn’t exactly help her mood. On top of all this she had to stand and explain everything to them, about the institute, the synths, she even told them about the FEV lab but she didn’t mention shaun was her son referring to him as father instead, she wasn’t ready for that yet. It was late when they finished, Deacon (the guy with the sunglasses, now bald) her and Desdemona (the older woman who chain smoked and had a habit of throwing her cigarette away to emphasise a point) poured over a giant map in the middle of the room for hours, coming up with the very basics of a plan to take down the insitute. Hancock had wandered off, most likely exploring the place.  
          When they finally offered her medical help and a dirty mattress to sleep on she was happy for anything she could get and collapsed onto the flat creaking springs with a sigh happy that this day was finally over. Hancock appeared as if from nowhere and wrapped his arms around her, she noticed Deacon watching them and she gave him a suspicious look but in all honesty she didn’t care, let him look, by now she was used to people staring at the vault dweller lost in time and her ghoul lover. She fell asleep quickly with Hancock’s breath on the back of her neck, wrapped up in his warmth, he was all the comfort she needed even in this strange place surrounded by these strange people.


	31. The Holotape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's been traveling with Deacon for a while, she's not really cut out for this spy stuff and she misses Hancock. It turns out they all get on pretty well, that is until disaster strikes.

          Harry was fed up of being dragged around the commonwealth by Deacon, at this point she was as good a spy as she was going to get which, considering the fact that most people recognised her, wasn’t very good. To be honest it was hard to take it all seriously, Deacon was a clown and every time he made a sarcastic quip she would laugh and play along, it was like they were kids playing at being spies. She would still go to the institute, she didn’t really like it but it was all part of Desdemona’s grand plan and really if she ended up freeing hundreds of synths then it was worth it. It broke her heart though, each time she looked at Father and saw so little of herself there she’d feel a little bit of her marble heart chip off and lying to her own son made it so much worse.  
          The Brotherhood weren’t exactly helping either, she would have to duck into any cover she could find whenever they heard the telltale motor hum of a vertibird, at first she expected her traveling companion to ask her about that but he knew already. He knew everything about her and it was starting to get to her no matter how much she respected him or how much he made her laugh it was hard to bond with someone when they knew everything about you and wouldn’t tell you anything about themselves.  
          She missed Hancock, Deacon knew Father was really her son and he was angry about it on her behalf but he was no good at comfort, he had tried hugging her, even holding her as she tried to sleep but his arms weren’t the same as her ghouls. She’d brought up the idea of him coming along a few times but the spy had said no, at this point she was half tempted to just leave him to it and go back to Goodneighbour alone. One evening she put her foot down, they were sat around a campfire eating roasted molerat and tatoes, the warmth of the fire was so nice on her front and she remembered how Hancock would sit behind her his legs either side of her and his arms at her waist so her back was warm too,  
          “I miss Hancock” she said pointedly, Deacon was chewing on his molerat and still wearing those damned sunglasses in the middle of the night,  
          “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” he said with his statement cheeky grin,  
          “Shakespeare?” she wasn’t really all that up on her classic literature but she knew the phrase well, she figured Deacon had read it in some book somewhere as she very rarely heard old world sayings used these days,  
          “Nope The Pocket Magazine of Classic and Polite Literature actually”  
          “I heard it in a film once, one with animated animals that wore clothes and talked… doesn’t change my point, I miss Hancock and I have a specific task that he can come along for”  
          “He doesn’t exactly make a great spy, I mean the outfit alone”  
          “He doesn’t need to be a spy for this task"  
          “Go on then I’ll bite, what’s the task?”  
          “I need to head to Sanctuary, talk to preston about where the minutemen stand on helping with the institute, we need all the help we can get and a few good men and women who know how to hold a rifle properly could be all we need to turn the tide in our favour”  
          “Why do you need Hancock for this?”  
          “Moral support” she grinned at him and could feel him rolling his eyes behind those sunglasses,  
          “The Mayor of Goodneighbour isn’t exactly well known for his morals”  
          “Not that kind of morals… oh come on Deeks, I just want to take him along on this one it’s not like it’s forever”  
          “Gahh fine ok we’ll head to Goodneighbour in the morning” she smiled triumphantly at this little win and looked forward to seeing the most handsome mayor in the Commonwealth,  
          “There’s just one more thing” she said, suddenly serious and rooting around in her pack for something “take this and whatever you do look after it, I trust you and whoever you want to share it with that’s ok with me”  
          “What is it?” Deacon asked, taking the holotape from her and turning it over in his hands trying to make sense of it,  
          “It holds every piece of information on the institute computers, if anything happens to me take it to HQ, give it to Desdemona DO NOT let it get into brotherhood hands” He nodded and put it in his jacket, clearly aware of it’s importance.

          Smoke twisted around the room, Hancock was enjoying a moment to himself a drink in his hand and a cigarette between his teeth. Harry had been gone for ages but he trusted the odd little man who looked different every time he saw him, still he did miss her and she wasn’t due back for a fair while longer. That’s why it was such a surprise when there was knock at the door and Harry pushed it open, Deacon looking suspicious behind her. She smiled as she entered the room and kissed him taking her chance at being close to him to subtly stroke his crotch, which made him eye her suspiciously, she hadn’t even said hello yet and was already groping,  
          “This a booty call love?”  
          “Nope, I’ve come to take you away from all this”  
          “What all this work? because for that I would be eternally grateful”  
          “Away from everything… need to go to Sanctuary, we can have a picnic and watch the irradiated sunset my dear”  
          “Deacon too?”  
          “Yep, you two can hold hands… you coming?” she said with a sly grin,  
          “Maybe you two should spend a night in a real bed first, you both look like you’ve been sleeping in dirt”  
          “We pretty much have… will you come get a bath with me John?”  
          “Sure, you go ahead I’ll show Deacon to Cait’s room, is that alright with you spy man? I promise no funny business, not when this gorgeous thing is waiting for me” he winked at Harry over his shoulder,  
          “Sure, who’s Cait?” Deacon asked,  
          “She lived here a while back, don’t worry you won’t be sharing, I bring you to the classy places remember” Harry assured him.  
          After they’d had a lovely relaxing but most of all muddy bath Harry and Hancock lay in bed together, his arms around her and her head buried in his chest, honestly this was one of his favourite things to do but right now they needed to sleep. Harry was not helping, she kept running her hands over him sending sparks from her warm fingertips , her lips were being pushed against his chest and every time her tongue slipped out to meet his flesh he had to stifle a groan,  
          “Come on sister we need to sleep” he said to her, his voice deep and low telling her just how aroused he was no matter how hard he tried to hide it,  
          “But I haven’t seen you in so long” she replied breathlessly, moving her head to look at him with half lidded eyes, hazy but burning,  
          “Yea I know I missed you too but you need to sleep, big day tomorrow” she pouted and her lips gently brushed against his skin he had to breathe deeply to hold onto some semblance of composure,  
          “Your cock says otherwise” she slipped her hand down and ran the tip of two fingers over the head of his erection, he groaned, he couldn’t help it,  
          “Well my cock doesn’t know what it’s talking about” this woman was a menace and he loved her,  
          “It’s been too long, don’t you want me” the dirty smirk she gave him just made him want to jump on her more and the way she was running her nails down his abdomen, not quite scratching but not exactly gentle, it was like playing with fire,  
          “God love I do but you need to get some rest and I wouldn’t want to do anything other than take my sweet time with you” she blinked twice, slow and sensuous, her lashes touching her cheek and she looked down at his chest for a moment and the thought passed that she might be conceding and he might have persuaded her to get some sleep. Then she sank her teeth into his chest just enough to hurt in the best possible way, he growled and grabbed her, one hand on her shoulder the other on her waist he flipped her over and pulled himself on top. Her legs were pinned between his, squeezed tightly closed, he shoulder pinned under his hand,  
          “Go to sleep” she wriggled to get free, the feel of her legs moving underneath him did nothing to help the situation, by now he was panting at the effort of holding himself back I’m too damn stubborn. With a dirty look Harry placed one hand on his chest, letting the other walk down her stomach then pressing between the legs he held closed, her hand moved and she started to pant, he gritted his teeth,  
          “John I’m so wet for you” she moaned as she rubbed her clit and bucked her hips under him. He could feel his dick throb as she moved under him,  
          “Right, fuck this” he groaned out and released her legs, placing himself between them, Harry’s hand moved away but he grabbed it and pulled it back down with a menacing grin, “keep doing that, I like it”  
          Hancock positioned himself over her, teasing at her wet slit with the tip of his stiff member, she mewled at him and he slammed into her making her call out his name, he held his breath not moving just enjoying the feeling of her around him, under him, filling his head and whimpering as she moved her hand over her clit. He moved slowly at first but as he gained momentum she started to moan and writhe underneath him, bringing her legs to his waist and urging him on. He lifted himself, shifting her hips so that he could sit back on his heels and watch her hand working as his dick slipped in and out and god was it a sight, one he’d commit to memory. Harry was near screaming now and he could feel her clenching around him, he leaned back down and slammed into her as roughly as he could manage without the hot sensation of her tense pussy spilling him over the edge. Thrusting into her again and again he clenched his teeth until he felt her legs stiffen around him and her walls close in on him and he relaxed the tentative hold on his own climax and spilled into her seeing spots as all tension rushed from him. He fell onto her, his head buried in the long hair at her shoulder, planting kisses on her collarbone through the soft tendrils of her auburn hair. After taking some time to just breathe her in he rolled onto his side and pulled her close, her back against his chest and his hand casually cupping her breast,  
          “Will you sleep now?” he murmured, not far from drifting off himself,  
          “Mmmmm... k” she muttered sleepily her eyes already closed. Hancock allowed himself to relax and gently tumble into a sleep filled with the warmth of her body.

          The sun was barely up when they left Goodneighbour it’s warm golden rays lighting the three travellers as they set off to the other end of the Commonwealth. Harry had planned on taking her time, making the most of her chance to be with her two favourite guys but Deacon complained loudly every time she made them stop to check out a building. It wasn’t long before Hancock was agreeing with him and the two were bonding over their mutual hate for Harry’s hoarding habit, she honestly wasn’t sure how to feel about this. All in all she was happy her two boys were getting along by the time they stopped for the night on the second day and she slipped herself into her bedroll, less happy when she felt a cold squish against her hip and unzipped to find a mutfruit staining her vault suit purple. She looked over as the two of them high fived giggling,  
          “Oh this means war” and that was the start of what is now known as “the great prank war” which had really never ended. Both Hancock and Deacon were honestly surprised that Harry could hold her own but she’d grown up with brothers and their pranks had been downright nasty. As they walked and cleared buildings of anything useful she would hear a bang and a collection of curses and know something had worked, or Hancock would pass Deacon some water he’d done something to and the spy would spit it out and watch the two of them laugh. It was a no holds barred free for all, culminating in Harry finding the mannequin. She had run up the stairs of a five story building two at a time, leaving the boys behind to bicker their way up the stairs and there it was like a gift from the heavens, Harry thanked God that she had brought her tattered old vault suit with her. The side of the building was almost entirely open to the outside world, something, whether it was the bombs or just age, had ripped a great hole in the bricks that reached at least three floors right by the stairway, perfect. She could hear them coming, calculating that they were about two floors below and so she rushed to grab the spare suit from her bag, struggling to get it on the plastic woman fast enough. Waiting for them to reach the floor below her she stood at the edge of the great hole in the floor and listened, as soon as the two reached the top of the stairs Harry let out an almighty scream and threw the mannequin off the side. Hancock yelled out “HARRY” before diving at the stairs and running down to where he expected to find her mangled corpse, Deacon just froze to the spot,  
          “HARRY YOU LITTLE SHIT” she just about heard from below, peeking her head over she could see him stood there next to the offending doll, he spotted her and pointed, “WAIT THERE YOU... DEEKS IT WAS JUST A DOLL”  
          “Whut?” Deacon muttered, coming back to life a little more before Hancock reached him and grabbed his shoulders to give him a shake,  
          “Dude, it was a prank, a mannequin... damn she’s good” she could hear an edge of laughter in his voice so she knew she was ok, hadn’t gone too far and after a brief telling off that she obviously didn’t pay any attention to, they moved on.  
          The conversation was flowing and the three of them had such an air of funny camaraderie that Harry was feeling relaxed and just watching the world as they walked along, occasionally laughing at their jokes or giving a sarcastic response to a question. That’s why no one noticed the Vertibird until it was too late, it pulled up on the horizon and one of the occupants clearly spotted them, dammit why didn’t I wear something less noticeable. The craft landed in their path and Harry turned to run before the two power armored Knights jumped down firing their lasers with less than pin point accuracy. She was so close to the cover of a huge boulder when she heard Hancock scream in pain and fall to the ground behind her,  
          “HANCOCK” she yelled, running over and throwing herself down at his side, she could see the singed hole at his knee where he’d been hit,  
          “HARRY LEAVE HIM LET’S GO” Deacon shouted at her, if she had been in her right mind maybe she would have, maybe she wouldn’t but it wasn’t an option anymore as the two Knights had reached them and Deacon ran off. She felt the glove of a power armour suit pulling her to her feet and dragging her away, holding tight at her arm,  
          “No no no... Hancock” she struggled against the grip on her but was simply pulled further from him, she tried to kick out, to do anything to get away but the power armour defended the wearer from her teeth and nails. The other was stood over Hancock as he lay in the dirt, “GET AWAY FROM HIM”  
A gunshot rang and she looked away, tears in her eyes, she just couldn’t face the scene in front of her,  
          “Hope you die slowly out here scum” the soldier stood over him said, so he wasn’t dead yet, there was hope. Harry looked over to see Hancock, a pool of blood growing around him from a wound in his shoulder and a boot heavy on his chest. She screamed and screamed as the scene disappeared from view as she was bundled into a Vertibird and taken away.

          Hancock stumbled along the bridge to Sanctuary clutching at his bleeding shoulder, he fell to the broken wood in front of a provisioner who screamed and ran back into town leaving her pack bramin to sniff at him. Thankfully Preston recognised him from the clothes because the woman had thought he was a feral and the minuteman had been ready to shoot. He knew Preston in much the same way and allowed the man to pull him to his feet and help him walk into Sanctuary,  
          “Hancock, that’s a nasty wound you’ve got there, we’ll have to get that looked at”  
          “Fuck that Preston they took her” he barked, desperate,  
          “Who took who friend?”  
          “The brotherhood took Harry, she’s gone... she’s gone”  
          “Shit” had Hancock known Preston better he might have known how little the minuteman swore and just how much he felt the brevity of the ghouls words. Preston started barking out orders to anyone around him and dragged Hancock into the nearest house, Sheffield, the man wouldn’t mind, he would do anything for Harry after she provided him with a new life there after finding him on the streets of diamond city and by extension would most likely do anything for Hancock.  
A woman with a fair knowledge of medicine but by no means a doctor fixed him up and tried to insist that he sleep to no avail. Hancock just jumped out of the bed to find Preston in the home's living room sat at a table waiting for him,  
          “What’s the plan then?” the loyal minuteman asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... the brotherhood have Harry, Hancock's injured and Deacon has disappeared. The next chapter I'm really really nervous about posting and how people will react, it's a doozy and very very messed up.
> 
> On another note I had to look up where the phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder" originated, when I found out it was in a Victorian women's magazine I realised that was EXACTLY the kind of thing Deacon would read if he found a copy of it somewhere. Also Disney reference because Disney would have actually existed in the Fallout world though not necessarily exactly the same and when I realised this I squeed.


	32. Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has been taken to the airport and it's up to her boys to get her back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided sod it I'm going to add the whole thing here. Thank you for all the lovely comments, they made me feel a lot more confident in this and helped me make this decision
> 
> I'll put a quick explanation in the end notes so you can still understand if you don't want to read the graphic bit.
> 
> WARNING: this chapter does contain non-con, physical and psychological torture... don't say you haven't been warned ;)

          Harry woke and looked around the room, her head groggy from a blow to the head she couldn’t remember. She was held in chains, heavy rusted cuffs at her wrists holding her up high enough that she was forced to stand on her tiptoes, she looked up and could just see that her chains were held on a hook that itself was bolted to the ceiling. The place was dark, a small room with a heavy metal door from what she could see, the vague shapes of bodies piled up haphazardly in one corner like someone was starting a collection. In her tired state she looked longingly at the dark shape of a mattress on the floor with no means to reach it. A sudden noise shocked her and she jumped as the door swung open and the pale light of an oil lantern flooded the room, she blinked blearily at the shape of a big man in the door,  
          “How are you settling in?” Maxson asked his face slowly becoming clearer to Harry as it swam through her smoggy mind,  
          “Where am I?” she mumbled, surprised to hear her voice was reedy and hoarse,  
          “In the airport, this is where I come to let off steam” he gestured at the bodies in the corner and Harry realised they were feral ghouls which just added to her confusion. Maxson finally entered the room and lit another oil lamp that sat on a table by the door, with two burning the room was pretty well lit and Harry could see his face as he stared at her intently.  
          “I collected most of these… tools… before even coming to the Commonwealth, it’s not often I get to show anyone” he lifted a heavy bag onto the table, dropping it with a clank and opening it to root through, it was like an old world doctors bag, leather and opening on hinges, she couldn’t say why but it filled her with fear,  
          “What are you going to do to me?” she asked, watching him as he pulled out a sharp pair of scissors that glinted in the orange light,  
          “Humm… sorry I’m not used to them talking back… I’m going to punish you, that’s what’s going to happen” as he said this she looked down at the bodies and realised, with nausea rising in her stomach that they were covered in deep cuts, bruises and what appeared to be burns all disguised by the dirt that covered their rotting flesh. It hit her like a train when her woozy brain finally let her know what was about to happen, she started to scream and struggle against the chains feeling a sharp pain as the rusty manacles dug against her wrists,  
           “Scream as much as you want, no one will hear you down here and only a small handful know about this place” he said to her before laying the open edge of the scissors against her neck “these are quite sharp let me assure you” he pulled them down and a sharp pain filled her head and she felt blood trickle from the cut. Running the cold metal down her chest Maxson slipped them into the top of her vault suit, where the zip met, he paused for a moment and looked into her brown eyes, his steely blue and filled with hate and… something else. With slight pressure he ran the scissors down her front, cutting open the fabric of her suit and her bra and continuing down past her navel, when her breasts fell free he looked at them hungrily, stepping back to follow the line of soft skin with his gaze, past her bellybutton to where a bit of hair showed where he’d left a little cut in her knickers. It was the first time she’d seen the man smile and it wasn’t a nice one, more a smirk of victory as he placed the scissors at her collar and cut across and down her arm, making sure to catch her bra strap as he did. He repeated this on the other side and from then it was just a small tug and she was naked and exposed to him but for the small cotton pants, he smiled to himself,  
           “I don’t often have anything nearly as attractive as you here” she watched in disgust as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed her body to him, taking a strand of her long hair in his other hand, lifting it to his face and inhaling her scent “I always loved your hair, so soft and long, how do you manage that in the cesspool up there… I think I’ll keep it for now, it’ll be so much more fun cutting it off you when it’s all matted with blood”  
          Maxson turned back to his bag and Harry took the opportunity of his turned back and attempted to struggle out of the cuffs again, when he heard her he laughed “an angry feral can’t break those chains so there’s no chance you will… and don’t expect that filthy ghoul of yours to rescue you. What does it feel like being with a ghoul anyway?”  
          “There’s nothing different to any man but he’s twice the man you’ll ever be” she spat at him before feeling impact against her side and a hot pain filling her from that point, he lifted his weapon to show her it was a small baseball bat, perhaps a little league bat used by children and now twisted for his sick games. He hit her again, on the arm just above the shoulder, she cried out as the pain spread, she knew it hadn’t broken, she would have heard the crack but god it felt like it had,  
          “Don’t worry I won’t break anything just yet I’m well practiced, maximum pain and minimum damage… for now” he swung again at her thigh, the collision knocking her feet from under her, she felt blood run down her arms where the restraints dug into her wrists, “you know I’ve wanted you from the first moment I saw you, I would have taken you right then and there, had you up against those windows if it weren’t for protocol and expectations… they all think I’m perfect, they worship me but you just don’t care, you look at me like a man not a saint”  
          “I look at you like a bug I should squash” she said, her lips curling around each word as she filled them with as much hate as she could manage, he sighed deeply and reached back into the bag, this time pulling out a blowtorch and showing it to her,  
          “It didn’t have to come to this you know, I could have loved you I’d have moved heaven and earth to make you happy once” he promised her, she spat at him covering his face with phlegm,  
          “Until I did something you didn’t like, then I’d be down here. You don’t know what love is” he let out a short laugh, reaching for a washcloth he wiped his face,  
          “Hold onto that spark, I’m going to enjoy beating it out of you” he held the blowtorch to her chest and lit it, the piercing scream that tumbled unaided from her lips rang around the room and she could smell the sickening stench of burning flesh as her skin melted in the heat. He moved to her thigh, eliciting another loud, high pitched scream which seemed to spur him on, he wasn’t even bothering to hide his erection from her and the thought of it made her sick. One more burn, one more scream and he couldn’t contain himself any longer, he threw the torch away,  
          “Fuck this I have to have you I’ve waited long enough” feverishly he pulled down the zip of his jumpsuit, letting his cock spring free and lifting Harry up by her arse,  
          “NO.. NO YOU SICK BASTARD” she shouted, struggling to get free of his hold, he slapped her across the face and grabbed her panties pulling them down and wrapping her legs around him he tied them around her ankles, she tried to struggle free, pulling and twisting her feet in an attempt to rip the offending fabric. It was no use, she was so weak by that point and he was already pulling her closer, as he entered her it felt like she might rip, the pressure of his hard penis feeling like it was tearing her apart, she looked away, determined not to let him see the tears that fell from her eyes. A sharp pain on her scalp, he had grabbed her hair in one of his strong hands and was forcefully turning her to face him,  
           “LOOK AT ME WHEN I’M FUCKING YOU” he shouted, pulling back his hip some of the pain in her eased, she spat at him again and he slammed back into her. Harry screamed in pain, the agony running through her and she looked away again only to have her head twisted back by a painful tug at her hair and a slap across the face “I SAID LOOK AT ME BITCH”  
          He fucked her hard, each thrust like a new hole torn in her body and her soul and each time she turned from him he would punch or slap her, he seemed to like looking at the tear tracks as they ran through the dirt on her face. As he came close to his end he slapped her again,  
          “Who do you belong to?” he demanded, staring deep into her eyes,  
          “I belong to no one” another slap and she saw stars and had to fight not to loose a grip on consciousness,  
          “I asked who do you belong to”  
          “I belong to myself” a punch to the face and she felt the tentative grip slipping,  
          “WHO DO YOU BELONG TO” he shouted in her face  
          “I’m yours” she whispered as the blackness closed in and she passed out.

          “So… what’s the plan?” Preston asked,  
          “I march right up there and demand her back” Hancock snarled and he would, he really would,  
          “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Hancock you’re a ghoul, no offence, you wouldn’t even get the chance to speak before they opened fire. I know full well you’re a hard man to kill but even you can’t survive a hail of bullets”  
          “No offence taken from what Harry says ghoul isn’t exactly an insult coming from you… that and you’re right, we’re going to have to come at this from a different angle, use some wiles”  
          “We need someone who has a good name with the brotherhood, someone who can talk to them without getting turned away or just killed on the spot” The two men paused to think about this one for a moment, the Hancock remembered something,  
           “Can you get in touch with anyone on that radio of yours… the big one at the castle?”  
           “I believe so, did you have someone in mind?”  
           “Yea, he still comes to Goodneighbour every once in awhile even now and he gave us a frequency to get through to that damn tin can of his and he’s always wearing it”  
          “Hancock, slow down… who?”  
          “Danse that fucking pretty soldier boy, he’s a dick but he told me he loved her once and if he knows what love is he’ll help us… get through to Fahrenheit, tell her what’s happening and she can help get through to him”  
          Hancock sat in a state of desperation for the rest of the day, sitting, standing, pacing about whilst half listening to garbled conversations over the little radio in the main house. Eventually they got hold of Danse, he wasn’t even aware Harry had been captured (or as Hancock would have put it kidnapped, but in the end it was all the same) he promised to ask around about it and find out where she could possibly be. It was two whole days before Danse showed up at the gates of Sanctuary with news, he’d been dropped by Vertibird somewhere nearby and walked the rest of the way. When Hancock saw him he knew something was terribly wrong, the soldier was pale and visibly shaking once out of his power armour, he sat down on a bench in the street looking for all the world like he was about to cry, Preston and Hancock both waited for him to talk,  
           “It’s… god I can’t… Maxson, he has a room in the airport… he uses it for… it’s… it’s usually feral ghouls or something like that down there but….”  
          “Come on tin can spit it out” Hancock urged him on edge,  
          “It’s a torture chamber… he says he uses it to “blow off steam” but it’s… they said it’s horrible and… and… that’s where Harry is” he put his head in his hands and his shoulders shook with the pain of it all, Hancock just stared into space trying to fight back the images pushing at the back of his mind.  
          “I’m going to get her… I’ll do what needs to be done… I’ll fight them all if I have to” He said finally, he was angry and flustered but most of all scared at the thought that he might never get her back, that he might die in the attempt and she’d be there until… until that sick bastard was done with her,  
          “You might not have to… can you swim?” Danse said, then he went on to explain his plan in great detail. It was risky and dangerous but it might just work, after all Hancock had to know someone with a working boat.

          Harry woke much as she had the day before, and the day before that, chained to a thick pipe but at least laid out on the damp and dirty mattress. She wondered vaguely how much longer this could go on, she had been there what? three days… four… she didn’t really know anymore. Her insides felt like soup, her bones broken and her skin torn, she’d lost track of how many times Maxson had brutally raped her and by now everything just felt numb. The door opened and the dark room filled with light, Maxson lit the second oil lamp and lifted her from the Mattress and attached her chains to the ceiling, before feeding her some stale food with surprising tenderness. He was the only person she saw, when he was gone there was only the darkness and he would often treat her with such gentleness, Maxson was her carer, her friend and her torturer.  
          He told her many times that he loved her and she was close to believing him only she was sure she was losing her mind anyway, the only thing that helped her grip on reality was Hancock, she could still remember him and how much he loved her, how much he cared and how protected she felt with him. She had real love and keeping how that felt in her mind she knew what Maxson did to her wasn’t it but each day the image faded a little, slowly being replaced by images of Maxson telling her he loved her or cleaning her aching body or hitting her with a baseball bat. Thankfully this visit was short and with a quick whisper of “I love you” he left her there in the dark.  
          She didn’t know how long she hung there, she may have slept a little despite the pain because she jumped when she heard the door, Maxson marched up to her and backhanded her hard across the face, she saw stars, it had been a bad day then,  
          “My love I’ve had a horrible day, I just wanted to come down and see you the whole time” he ran his fingers lovingly along her body “do you mind if we dispense with the usual… foreplay, I just want you to make me feel good” she shook her head at him weakly “I think I’m finally ready to take this prize” he lifted her hair in his fingers and watched it fall in messy tangles.  
          She hadn’t bothered to listen, he often talked at her and he very rarely wanted a response so she would just zone out and let her concussed mind do what it would, often taking her to happy images of Hancock or her friends. He unhooked her chains and she sagged to the floor, her legs too painful to hold her up and he lifted her and laid her face down on the table, the rusted metal cold against her cheek. From the bag on the floor he pulled more chains and busied himself using them to hold her ankles against two legs of the table so that her own legs were pulled apart and her arse and labia were exposed compleatly. Coming around to the front he twisted another new chain around the one that was always attached to her wrists and attached the whole thing to the front legs of the table so that her arms were pulled out in front of her as she lay along the table. She wasn’t exactly comfortable but the cold against her skin was easing her constant pain just a little as she watched Maxson with little interest. He pulled out a dirty canvas bag and his favourite pair of gleaming scissors and leaned down to whisper in her ear,  
          “I’ve wanted to do this for so long my love” he took a handful of her matted hair, it was caked in blood and had been pulled on so much that her scalp was on fire as he lifted her head off the table with it. She felt a tug and was suddenly released, he face crashing into the metal with a clang, again with a handful of hair her face was pulled away, then again it fell onto the cold metal. Maxson was cutting off her hair and putting the messy clumps into the bag, enjoying every moment and pulling in shaky breaths every time her head fell with a resounding clang. Once he was done he ran his hands over her haphazardly sheared head with a sigh “shame I can’t have my cake and eat it”  
          He circled her, taking a moment to stare at her rear end, she had the urge to cover herself but she couldn’t, she felt helpless exposed as she was but that was nothing new in here. With a loud smack he slapped her arse and she pulled in a shuddering breath at the pain, then he rubbed his hand along her lips,  
          “God you’re so tight, I’ll never get tired of this” he pulled out his erect penis and slipped it in where his fingers had been pulling a strangled moan from Harry. He wasn’t gentle, rarely was by this point and she was used to it just letting her mind wander until he was done, ignoring the screams and whimpers that came unwittingly from her own mouth. He fucked her hard until he came with a groan, laying on her back for a few moments before and untied her legs, circling round to her front he pulled her up the table so that her head hung over the edge and smacked her again,  
          “LOOK… look at what you do to me… god I’m getting hard again already” he pulled at her jaw so she was forced to look at his groin in front of her, he was half stiff and covered in blood and cum and it made her gag to look at it but he held her face tight,  
          “Please…” she said her tears running down her face but he just slapped her,  
          “Who do you belong to?” he asked, hitting her across the face again,  
          “I’m yours” she said the meaningless words that she’d said so many times before, they seemed to appease him and instead of hitting her again he shoved his dirty fingers into her mouth and prised it open before jamming his bile covered cock between her lips. She was nearly sick at the taste of it but he didn’t let up, driving himself down into her throat again and again making her choke until she thought she might die, he came in the back of her mouth and held there, forcing her to swallow then he released her to be sick on the floor in front of him,  
          “I love you” he whispered, leaning into her ear and placing a kiss on her cheekbone. He lifted her from the table and replaced her in the usual place, hanging from the ceiling, her toes just touching the ground “I’ll try to get back to you later” he said before leaving her alone, crying in the dark.

          Deacon turned up in Sanctuary as they were loading the boat that would take them to the airport and Hancock charged towards him in a rage,  
          “Where were you?” he hissed to the spy and stood too close, threateningly close, if this little shit hadn’t run off then maybe… maybe,  
          “I had something to do” Deacon said casually, attempting to step around the angry ghoul but Hancock just moved with him, he would get an explanation and a bloody good one too,  
          “What in the hell could be more important than Harry” he asked, his words barely concealing how angry he felt  
          “It was something for Harry… something important” the calmness Deacon showed in front of him just made Hancock angrier and he reached into his back pocket and wrapped his hand around his trusty knife, “I’d let go of the knife Hancock you don’t want to do this”  
          “Then explain and make it fast” he gripped tighter and gritted his teeth,  
          “Fine… she gave me the holotape, told me not to let the brotherhood get it and to give it to Des if anything happened to her, I assume you know which holotape I mean” Hancock did know and for a second held onto the rage, it wasn’t a good enough reason to abandon them but he supposed if it was what Harry had wanted,  
          “I’m watching you, don’t think you’re forgiven” he finally let himself calm down, well as calm as he could be in the situation, and clued Deacon in on the plan,  
          “I’ll stay with the boat, make sure everything’s ready when you bring her back” Hancock nodded at this, they might just end up needing the extra hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive me... I'm a terrible person.
> 
> Em... right... the sans graphic bits condensed version:
> 
> Harry wakes up with no idea where she is, Maxson has her locked in a cell in the airport that very few others know about. He proceeds to keep her locked up, seeing only him while he tortures and rapes her but sometimes is very gentle and sweet. Tells her that he loves her, like a lot... Arthur Maxson is one sick puppy. Oh and he cuts off her hair to keep as a momento.
> 
> Meanwhile Danse is contacted to help and her bots plan a daring rescue... Deacon turns up last minute and gets yelled at by Hancock, he let's him help but he's lost trust in the spy.
> 
> Please don't hate me too much... honestly I have no idea why my brain went there.


	33. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rescue mission is launched.

          The boat pulled up at the side of the Airport at midnight, Danse had been tailing Maxson all day and was now sat outside his quarters ready to sound the alarm should he leave the room. Hancock and Preston jumped from the boat and waded through the inky water as silently as possible and somehow they made it to the unassuming door without being seen. Once inside the old ruins of the Airport they were plunged into pitch black, Hancock blinked until his eyes adjusted and he knew he hadn’t just gone blind. For a while the two men wandered silently through the maze of stairs and tunnels, walkways and empty rooms in darkness until a loud whisper from Preston, he’d found an old oil lamp and thankfully Hancock was a smoker, pulling out his silver lighter he held it to the wick. Sudden bright light made the ghoul see spots for just a second, he worked better in the dark but he understood the smoothskin’s need for light, it was creepy in the blanket of silence down there and the light did make it easier to navigate.  
After too many failed attempts they finally came to a heavy, rusted metal door just as Danse had described it, it was locked though,  
          “Harry’s the one that’s good at lockpicking, I haven’t done it since I was a kid” he turned to the minuteman crouched behind him as he examined the lock,  
          “Can’t say I’m any good either, not my thing” Preston said with a calmness that made Hancock angry,  
          “I’ll give it a go” he pulled bobby pins and a screwdriver from his pockets, where he had squirreled them away preparing for just this situation. Many broken bobby pins, a lot of cursing and almost a full pack of mentats later and he felt the click of the lock and tried the handle. The door swung open, wafting with it a stench that made the two men gag, sweat, excrement and rotting flesh swam together with an overwhelming tang of blood to create something acrid that hit the back of their throats and almost choked them like something solid,  
          “Fuck... fuck... are we too late?” Hancock felt his knees start to buckle under him, seeing only vague shapes in the half light, Preston lifted the lamp providing more light to bring the room into focus. They took in the stained mattress, the pile of bodies that were clearly the source of the decomposing smell but most of all the blood covered body of a woman hanging limp from the ceiling. She was hardly recognisable, her hair sticking out in matted tufts and her face bruised and swollen but it was Harry and she wasn’t moving. Hancock rushed over to her, taking her in his arms and desperately clawing at the metal holding her at her wrists, he wasn’t thinking straight, wasn’t acting on a plan just doing what his animal instincts told him to. Thankfully he could feel her chest gently rising and falling against his and eventually the relief of that calmed him enough to realise Preston had been talking to him, for how long he did not know,  
           “Hancock... Hancock... did you hear me?”  
           “She’s alive, thank fuck she’s alive”  
           “Good, but the chains are just hooked on, if I stand on that table and you lift Harry we should be able to unhook them and worry about getting them off on the boat” Hancock was hit by how thankful he was for the man’s calmness, fully aware that he’d been cursing it earlier. They managed to get her free, slowly lowering her form onto the dirty floor and allowing Hancock to wrap his coat around her, covering her naked, bruised and broken body and then lift her into his arms. The chains at her wrists added to her weight, he was tired but determined to get her to safety,  
          “Hancock, here let me carry her, you did get shot in the shoulder a few days ago, you’re in no fit state” Preston said, pulling up along side the ghoul who was visably wobbling from the weight in his arms,  
          “Preston, no offence I actually quite like you but fuck right off, the only way I’ll ever let her go again is if I’m dead” he knew he should have taken the offer and in any other situation he would have but this strong, beautiful enigma of a woman was going nowhere but his arms until they were in sanctuary no matter how exhausted he felt. She stirred, possibly roused by the vibration in his chest when he spoke,  
          “H... Hancock... are... you... real” each word came out weak and split by deep shuddering breaths, he smiled down at her,  
           “Yes love, I’ve got you now, you’re safe”  
           “I... I... Love...” she didn’t have the chance to finish the thought before passing out again but it spurred him on, gave him the extra energy he needed,  
           “I know sister... I know” he muttered to her sleeping form as they charged through the airport ruins. The boat was, as promised waiting where they had left it, and true to his word Hancock refused to let go even when it came to getting on the boat he wouldn’t pass her to anyone else so they had to winch him aboard Harry still in his arms. The long trip back to sanctuary they had a chance to wrap her in a warm blanket and Deacon did his best with his rudimentary first aid skills but she was just too bad, he uttered a damning curse aimed at Maxson under his breath so that only Hancock could hear as he looked at the extent of the damage.

          It was morning when they arrived at Sanctuary, pulling the boat up as close as they could get it, Hancock carried Harry the rest of the way into town, past a bunch of doctors who’d all been brought here for this specific purpose including Dr Amari and Curie. Fahrenheit fell into step next to him and he distantly wondered who was running Goodneighbour but he really just didn’t care right now,  
          “What do you need boss?” Fahr asked as she walked beside him, the crowd that had gathered parted for them and he got the distinct impression they were all afraid to get too close to his bodyguard, well he couldn’t blame them she was scary enough when it wasn’t this bad a day,  
          “I need a bed, a clean one preferably, I need those doc’s to look at her and I’m gonna need clean water… lot’s of it”  
          “There’s a room made up in that house, They’re already following you and there’s a few cans of purified water in there already… I’ll go get more” she told him, pointing respectively at a yellow house in front of him and the small group of doctors who were indeed following them. She then vanished off, presumably to intimidate more of the townsfolk into getting her what they needed.  
          Inside he found the room she’d talked about, it looked like it had been scrubbed clean and the big windows on one side had been covered with raggy blankets dulling the light running through them. He placed Harry on the bed as gently as he could, getting shocked gasps from the Doctors behind him when his coat fell off revealing a little of her skin, Dr Amari stepped forward, it seemed the other two were too scared to approach him but she wasn’t,  
          “Hancock we need to examine her, please leave the room” she said sternly but still laying a comforting hand on his shoulder,  
          “NO” he barked in response,  
          “You’ll only get in the way” her tone was still authoritative but kinder,  
          “NO” he repeated  
          “Will you try to at least stay out of the way?”  
           “Yes” he pulled over a chair, took one hand and sat there, holding onto her small fingers like they were a lifeline in all this mess, he didn’t say a word as they examined her, making quiet gasps all the while. It was only when Harry was cleaned and bandaged up that he allowed Amari to pull him away from the rest of the group to the hallway where he stood looking at her as the woman spoke,  
          “What did this, it’s too exacting to be supermutants but usually raiders aren’t that vicious” she asked,  
          “Maxson” he didn’t take his eyes of Harry as he uttered the bastards name,  
          “One man did all of this?”  
          “Yes”  
          “I don’t know how much to tell you Hancock, I know you and revenge on the head of the Brotherhood… well it’s not a good idea”  
          “Everything”  
          “You honestly want to know all of it?” he reluctantly turned his face away and fixed his eyes on the doctor’s giving her his best I-will-cut-you glare, he nodded “just promise you won’t do anything rash, imagine her reaction if you weren’t here when she woke up” another nod “well she’s been tortured, broken ribs, a cracked femur, extensive cuts and bruising as well as burns all over her body… we can’t tell how bad the internal injuries are without things like scanners and x-ray and it would be too risky and Hancock?”  
          “Yes” he was fuming, one step from throwing things and shouting, marching up to the brotherhood and demanding that the sick bastard pay for this,  
          “We think she’s in a coma, her body has been through a lot, she may have needed to shut down to heal… my best suggestion is round the clock care and just wait this out… but there’s another thing… are you sure you really want to know?”  
           “YES” he shouted, rounding on her his eyes hot with rage,  
           “She’s been raped… repeatedly, I would say more than 10 times”  
           “I am going to shove a nuke up that cunt’s arse and watch it explode… no that’s too quick, I need him to suffer more” it was the longest sentence he’d muttered since entering the house and he was surprised by how calmly he said it, like revenge was just an inevitability. He returned to his chair at her side, his head resting on the edge of the bed by her shoulder, silent again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This (and the previous chapter) is the point where it all diverges completely from the plot of the game... key things will still happen but not necessarily as they orginally did in the game.


	34. Forgetting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry wakes up in Sanctuary

          Warm sun rays beat down on her skin and a gentle breeze played over her catching hold of some hair and making it dance. It was a perfect day in sanctuary and she laid on her front on a striped towel in her garden with a little yellow bikini covering as little as possible, the grass was green and the flowers she and Nate were so proud of danced in the wind. Nate was nowhere to be seen and she idly wondered where he had gone off to before returning to the book in front of her, it was open somewhere near the middle but she frowned at it. She must have read this far but for some reason she couldn’t remember the story or even the name of the book, something felt wrong, she rolled over to look up at the sky, blue as topaz and with one little cloud skittering across it like it had never been lit with flashes of lightning from green clouds… wait green clouds? The noise of an ice cream truck broke her out of those thoughts and she stood and sauntered into the house, grabbing some water from the fridge and her purse,  
          “NATE DO YOU WANT AN ICE CREAM?” she shouted but the house rang with silence… he was probably too cold for ice cream anyway...what, why would he be cold? she shook off the thought as a child outside screamed in excitement and she headed out the door to join the little que of children and parents, Sanctuary really was a lovely neighbourhood. A muddy, scruffy looking dog ran up to her and sat at her side, it looked like a German shepard but it was clearly a stray being that dishevelled, which was odd, normally strays didn’t come this far from concord… much more people, much easier pickings there. The dog sat on it’s haunches and whined at her, begging for something,  
          “I’m sorry dogmeat I haven’t got anything for you” she told the thing… Dogmeat… how did she know the stray dogs name? that was his name, she was sure of it but… an old lady had told her… in concord after she met the dog… met him at the red rocket after… after the Vault… after the bombs dropped… she screamed.  
          The room around her swam into view, she tried to remember where she was but god her head hurt, she tried to roll onto her side but the pain made her wince so instead she opted for turning her head enough to see Preston sitting beside her reading something. That wasn’t right, she strained to remember and grasped onto the last thing she thought she had done as memories trickled into her head, jet.. she’d done jet with Hancock in Goodneighbour then fallen asleep on the sofa… why was Preston there, Hancock had better explain himself,  
          “Hancock” she muttered, it felt like she hadn’t spoken in months her throat ached and her voice came out as croaky and weak,  
          “What was that general” Preston said absentmindedly before jumping up and shouting “GENERAL. .. HARRY YOU'RE AWAKE!”  
          “You're awake!” Hancock’s face appeared behind Prestons shoulder and he grinned down at her,  
          “I am… but… where am I?” her head swam and she couldn’t quite hold onto thoughts,  
          “In sanctuary love” Hancock answered her as he sat down at her side in the chair Preston had just left and softly kissed her forehead, running his fingers through her hair a touch that was not too unpleasant, comforting really but she couldn’t exactly remember him touching her like that before even though he seemed so practiced at it… god her head hurt,  
          “Sanctuary, but, I was in the old state house… you remember… you and I, we took some jet and fell asleep on the sofa… how am I here?”  
          “That was… years ago sweetheart” her brow furrowed with confusion at the ghoul who looked worried and continued to stroke her hair, it felt odd and she twitched her head away from him which hurt, she winced and sat silently looking at him for a second before it dawned on her what would have happened,  
          “Hancock what did you slip me?” she said, a weak smile passing across her face, it was all that she could grasp onto that made this whole thing make sense,  
          “You know I wouldn't do that love” he took her hand and Harry pulled it away, she thought for a second about his words,  
          “You keep calling me love and sweetheart, I get it it's kinda your thing but you keep touching me too... did something happen?”  
          “I don’t know what to say lo-sister”

          Hancock was confused but just in time the doctor on duty came running in, Hancock was paying a truckload of caps to keep a doctor in sanctuary at all times so she could be looked after. In all honesty word had spread that there was a doctor in residence and he was making plenty from people coming to see him, he even talked about hiring some other doctors and nurses and setting up a hospital like they'd had before the war. For now he had one major patient and had to examine her. Hancock sat and watched as he checked her all over (it had been two weeks since they brought her back, the scars were healing though there would likely be some marks there for life) the Dr asked her lots of odd questions about maths and dates and such then took Hancock to one side,  
          “It's bad news and good news, as I've told you I didn't hold out hope for her waking at all, so that is very good news… only… she has amnesia”  
          “You're kidding me?” he couldn’t help but laugh, it was just so… absurd,  
          “She only remembers up to around 5 years ago, she doesn't remember anything about the institute or the Brotherhood and… well… as far as she's concerned you met a few months ago… she doesn't remember your relationship at all” Hancock’s mouth fell open and a million things pushed their way into his consciousness. He only had one question that really mattered though, he didn’t care if she didn't know him from Adam really,  
          “Is she going to be ok?”  
          “Well this could be because of brain damage or perhaps it is her mind blocking the memories of the recent past and… going too far. I don’t know if she’ll ever regain her memories”  
           “Fuck all that… is she going to live?” he asked, no time to listen to the doctors rambling and moving closer his best don't-fuck-with-me glare plastered on his face, the doctor shrunk back from him,  
          “I'm not 100% so don't… stab me… if I'm wrong, but yes, she should be on the mend now” the ghoul breathed a sigh of relief and turned his attention away from the trembling doctor, he moved back over to her bedside,  
          “Why does everything hurt? What happened?”  
          “You had… an accident and you've been out a long time, weeks but em…”  
          “How did I have an accident? You promised you'd look after me” she looked really betrayed and Hancock felt his heart ripping,  
          “That's the thing….you have amnesia, it's five years since then… only you don't remember it at all” she was silent for a long time and he knew her well enough to know she was feeling out the shape of this idea in her head,  
          “If it's really five years later, why haven't I found shaun, why isn't he here?” Hancock's stomach pulled into a tight knot, he knew that question was coming but it still hit him like a falling vertibird.  
          “You did but… it's complicated… can I tell you about it later, once you've got your head around this?”  
          “No… I want my son”  
          “You've seen him, talked to him but lo… sister he's not like you thought”  
          “I wouldn't care, he's my son, I don't care if they turned him into a supermutant I'd still love him” she said, the strong passionate woman he loved, the one who had made him a better person, taught him to like who he is. How was he going to tell her her own son was the enemy? The big bad of the commonwealth was her flesh and blood. And how the hell was he going to convince her it's true? She hardly knows him, she doesn't remember all that they've done who they've become together. He wanted to get high, he'd done so well lately, he wasn't bothered about giving up but he'd not been needing as many to deal with stuff and now… this,  
          “I can't give you answers sister, not right now. Look, you get some sleep and I'll go… somewhere” he pretty much ran out of the room, grabbing his mentat tin from his pocket and tipping half of them into his hand intending to take the whole handful. That's when he bumped into solid metal and dropped the tin with a clatter and the pills fell from his hand,  
          “I hope you didn't intend to take all of those with Harriette in a sick bed” Danse said I really don't want to deal with this right now he thought desperately but he had to,  
          “Not all of them just most of them, what’s the brotherhood of shlongs doing here anyway?” he asked, defensive, Danse had been turning up every now and then to see how Harry was doing but Hancock hadn’t wanted to let the man see her until she woke up, he didn’t really know why but Danse had respected that,  
          “I’m not here on behalf of the Brotherhood, they don’t even know I’m here I just… how is she?” the bastard had helped save her he deserved to know before he goes in there,  
          “It's complicated, I need to tell you something”  
          “I'm listening”  
          “Do you remember when we first met? In the police station, all those ferals?”  
          “I do but I don’t see how it’s relevant” Hancock looked up at him, rubbing the back of his neck as he figured out how to word this  
          “She's awake but…. Danse, she doesn't remember much past that. She's got amnesia and…. well after that day… when you first met... we ended up back at Goodneighbour, she had jet for the first time that night, we fell asleep on the sofa together and that's the last thing she remembers”  
          “She… doesn't remember me?” a loud hiss sounded and Danse climbed out of his power armour and collapsed onto a nearby bench, the wind knocked out of him,  
           “She remembers you, your name, what you do but… as far as she remembers you’re the guy who was horrible to me and she marched off from, that's it” the man looked devastated, like he’d lost something dear to him, well in a way he had,  
          “So she doesn’t remember you, well… you and her anyway”  
          “No, it’s like we never had a relationship and I haven’t had the heart to tell her”  
          “Does she know what happened… what Maxson did?”  
          “No… do you know what he did?”  
          “Not in any detail no… but… Maxson, he’s a good man”  
          “He isn’t, no good man could do that… Danse you didn’t see it… oh god the smell”  
          “Tell me” the man was sat up straight now, listening to the ghoul intently a look of defeat on his handsome face  
          “Look man I don’t know that you want to know… he is your boss”  
          “He hurt her didn’t he… I mean I knew he… or I didn’t know I thought”  
          “He raped her” the ghoul couldn’t look Danse in the eye, he didn’t know how he felt himself at this point and if he looked at the Paladin he might loose it and rip his eyes out... or maybe collapse at his feet in tears. He faced away from him and carried on speaking instead, “repeatedly”  
          “No… no he couldn’t have… he’s…. he’s…” he trailed off and slouched again, his head falling into his hands, Hancock had never seen him like this, so vulnerable, showing so much caring for Harry, now he knew why he hadn’t wanted him to see her,  
          “He tortured her too, she has burns, bruises and so many cuts all over her body I should have got there sooner… I could have...” Hancock trailed off, he wasn’t taking pleasure in this it seemed to him like the man in front of him was trying to hold it together by the skin of his teeth but so was he and he just gave in, it all started to pour out,  
          “Stop” the soldier who had seen so much death and destruction in his time, caused so much of it, looked like he was utterly broken by this news, “she didn’t deserve… any of that… Hancock I’m sorry”  
          “That’s the first time you’ve called me by my name” it was all he could think to say, silence fell between the two of them before, after a while, Danse broke it,  
           “Can I see her?” he asked shakily standing on wobbly legs,  
“Sure, come on... it's not pretty though” Hancock said with a deep sigh, leading the big man to the room where Harry slept. He could hear sobs and looked behind him to see Danse crying and suddenly it was like he was seeing her for the first time too. He’d been in such a state when he brought her back to Sanctuary and since then he had grown used to her appearance but looking at it with fresh eyes he was shocked at just how bad she still looked. Her short hair had been tidied up somewhat but he still felt the loss of her waist length auburn waves, her face was covered in layered purple bruises, though the swelling had now subsided and a burn mark at the top right of her forehead was finally starting to heal despite the knife mark through it. She had a little more colour in her cheeks now, well what little of them you could see past the bruises, he remembered her being almost grey before some blood transfusions brought her back from the brink. She wriggled a little in her sleep and revealed one skinny arm and the bruises there too, some turning to brown but others angry and purple and burnt flesh cut through with a knife reopening old wounds, her whole leg was in a cast so that it laid at an uncomfortable angle. He knew the rest of her body was just as bad, if not worse, her ribs were a messy pattern, her right side one big bruise. Hancock could have cried to look at her like that, the soldier did, big angry wracking sobs, storming into the hallway and punching a hole in the wall with a grunt of frustration.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because everyone likes soap opera clichés right? Right?... just me?


	35. Recovery Isn't a Bad Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is taking time to recover and get to grips with the sudden influx of information.

          Harry was leaning against a crutch, Danse giving her encouraging words and catching her arm when she wobbled as she learned to walk again. It had been two weeks since she had woken and the big lumbering tin can had stayed around giving the brotherhood some excuse to get away and help her recover, (it’s not like Maxson could say anything about it though he probably knew exactly where his best Paladin was). She was honestly thankful for the help of the big, strong man who could lift her easily, he was handy and she could feel herself loosening up every time she walked further from her bed and closer to the goal of being well again. Hancock was watching from the shadows an unreadable look on his face, he barely talked to her these days and it became less and less believable that they could have been a couple,  
          “Just make it over to this bench then you can sit for a bit if you’d like?” Danse told her, snapping her out of her own head, she did as she was told taking wobbly steps forward until the soldier took her hands and lowered her back onto the seat,  
          “Can I get some water?” she asked him, he was being so sweet to her and she didn’t really like asking for… well anything really. as soon as he left she looked around for Hancock but he’d disappeared, it hurt that he was so distant and she didn't entirely understand why. A man she didn’t recognise (which these days described a lot of people) plopped down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder, she pulled herself away at the familiarity and studied him trying to spark some memory of who he was. He wore a battered old coat and patched up jeans and a pair of sunglasses that were far too nice for a drifter, his black hair was pulled up into a pompadour and he looked like he was probably a cheeky sod with that grin,  
          “I’m sorry do I know you?” she asked, then felt the need to explain further so as not to hurt his feelings “you see I lost my memory, I don’t know half my friends… who are you?”  
          “I’m no one babe… how are you feeling?” he asked, finally putting his arm at his side with a small flash of shock that was there one second replaced with his cheesy grin the next,  
          “Healing… I can’t quite walk on my own yet and I just want to get out of here… are you a new settler or something?” she searched his face for a hint of anything but to no avail, whoever he was she wasn’t perceptive enough to pick up on it,  
          “Told you I’m nobody, just wanted to check that the commonwealth sweetheart was ok… you make sure to take it easy” he stood up and gently squeezed her shoulder smiling down at her in such a familiar way she was sure he was lying but before she could question him further he had disappeared round a corner and Danse was handing her a can of purified water,  
          “Thanks…. do you know who that man was?” she asked Danse as he gently lowered himself into the same spot the stranger had been sat in just moments ago,  
          “I don’t think I saw anyone” he said, looking confused,  
          “I think I might be losing my mind, I swear I was just talking to someone” she gestured futily in the direction he had walked,  
          “I just saw you sat here looking confused… do you want to go back to bed? I’ll help you walk there if you want” she nodded and he helped her stand and passed her the crutches ready for the slow hobble back to her sick room.

          Hancock grabbed Deacon as he made his way around the back of the houses to the bridge to escape Sanctuary,  
          “Tell me something interesting spy” he said, holding onto Deacon’s coat sleeve,  
          “She doesn’t know me” he looked distraught which made Hancock pause for a second, taken aback by a chink in his usually perfect act,  
          “Doesn’t know many people anymore… hurts right?” he said sadly,  
          “I came to tell her something.. Tom’s been working on the holotape but… she doesn’t know me”  
          “What’s he found?”  
          “Nothing too much yet, a few things she’d need to know if she goes to the institute again… wait does she know about the institute? her son?”  
          “Told you about that did she? no she doesn’t keeps asking me all the time too, god knows how I’m gonna tell her”  
          “Don’t tell her, it’s probably best she doesn’t know”  
          “I won’t until she’s a lot better than this but she’s just gonna set off on her quest to find him again if I don’t say anything… look you go back to, whatever it is you do and I’ll work on her” Deacon nodded and Hancock watched as he walked across the bridge and away before slinking around the nearest house and watching as Harry and Danse laughed at her slow wobbly walk. He wasn’t jealous as much as he was sad, he loved her and it tore at his soul to just watch as she grew closer to Danse but he didn’t know what to do about it, it’s not like he could demand she stop, he wouldn’t have gotten away with that when they were together and now she barely remembered him.           The tin can took her back into the house and stayed inside for a lot longer than Hancock was comfortable with, he thought about just bursting in and catching them at… whatever it was they were doing but he held back, only approaching once Danse had left. Harry was sat up in bed, the bruises had all but faded by now, apart from the ones on her ribs, but he only knew that because the doctor had been telling him about her progress, she smiled up at him.

          Harry was aware of a presence in the doorway and looked up to see Hancock hiding in the shadows as he often did, it was the first time in a while he had come to visit her and she could tell why immediately from the look of hurt and anger in his onyx eyes. She was feeling it too, the idea that he could tell her all these wonderful things about their life together then just hover on the edges of her life gave her the impression he was pulling away but she didn’t know why. She smiled at him all the same and he stalked through the room to sit on the couch against the back wall,  
          “Hancock what’s wrong?” she asked him,  
          “That obvious hu?” he fixed her with a jet black stare and a weak smile that never reached his eyes, he was tense but feigning a casual attitude,  
          “Well kinda, you keep avoiding me ever since I woke up and.... have you told people not to tell me about Shaun?”  
          “Most people don’t know, I think you only told me and one other person the truth about what happened”  
          “I really trusted you then” she shifted her weight and moved the chair by the bed signalling that he should move closer but he stayed put his eyes still fixed on her,  
          “You did… I…” he trailed off and looked at his scarred hands,  
          “Please talk to me Hancock, I want to get to know you again, like you say I used to” Harry was surprised by the quavering in her voice as she said this,  
          “You do? I suppose I don’t know what to do about that and Danse… well Danse is here” he finished lamely she fixed him with a yea right look and his face split into the first genuine grin she had seen from him in almost two weeks “ok fine… I know Danse likes you, well in fact he loves you and I know he’s better for you than a ghoul like me and you’ve been spending so much time with him, I don’t know how to compete”  
          “God you sound medieval, it’s not a competition to win my heart or something. I’d spend a lot of time with you too if you let me… oh and don’t dare insult ghouls in front of me, you know how I feel about that”  
          “Thought you just felt that way about me” he winked at her and she saw a bit of the charismatic smooth talking man she had met return,  
          “Everyone’s equal no matter where they come from, it’s actions that matter not what your face looks like” she said with conviction,  
          “I feel ya… so how exactly do you want to go about getting to know me then?”  
          “I don’t know… did we ever go on a date?”  
          “Depends what you think of as a date sunshine”  
          “Well back before it would be dinner or a movie or dancing… maybe a picnic”  
          “We did go to the third rail once… I got you this knockout dress, no dancing though”  
          “Why didn’t we dance, I love dancing”  
          “Em… well… we didn’t exactly get chance lo-sister”  
          “Hummm why not?”  
          “Some guy was putting the moves on you and… em… I knocked him out then dragged you to the toilets, we didn’t stay after that”  
          “Why would you drag me to the toilets?”  
          “You gonna make me say it?”  
          “Say what?… ohhh… so we… oh” she blushed and tried to hide her face “was I that… adventurous?”  
          “Oh sister that was nothing… you did still blush and act all cute when you talked about sex though, one of the things I love about you”  
          “Well if you’re going to take me on a date this time it’s not going to end like that” she smiled at him, her face still feeling hot and the way he was looking at her made it even worse, he looked hungry but not for food,  
          “I dig… I can do going slow”  
          “Thank you Hancock, can I call you John?”  
          “You used to”  
          “John it is”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hands up if you guessed the strange drifter was Deacon?
> 
> Thank you all for the comments I've been getting... even if the majority are telling me off for causing too many emotions, it's really good to know I can write well enough to make people feel things :)


	36. Second Firsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is slowly getting better and Hancock plans a date!

          Hancock got the distinct feeling he shouldn’t ask her what to do on a date and should figure it out himself so he racked his brains for someone from the world before, Daisy was back in Goodneighbour and this wasn’t something you talked about over a crackling radio so that wasn’t really an option. Maybe Preston would know more about this sort of thing, he seemed like the type or some other ghoul like… Ahh Vault-tec guy he’d know, he was around back in the day before the world turned to shit. After a lot of positive persuasion the vault tec rep (no one knew his real name... honestly it was a little odd) told him he’d never really been much of a ladies man (surprisingly) but still gave him a few second hand stories about dating in the days before the bombs, Hancock took these off and started making preparations, a little bit shocked that he was excited about the whole thing.

          She was woken up from a very odd dream by Preston who was dressed in a black suit, Harry eyed him suspiciously,  
          “You look nice, got a date?” she asked him, giggling,  
          “No but you do” he said handing her a rose coloured dress, she held it up and looked at it taking in the big skirt and the belt that pulled it in at the waist, it was clean and lovely and unexpected,  
          “Is this for me?” she asked looking up her eyes wide in confusion,  
          “Yes, Cait is waiting to help you dress if you need it” he gestured towards the door before tipping a little bow and leaving her with the dress. Harry just stared at it for a little while but made up her mind to just go with it, a little ball of nervous excitement growing inside her as she stretched to remove her tank top. Her arms pulled above her and she winced, the pain in her side stabbing through her and making her grimace,  
          “CAIT” she yelled and a red haired freckled face popped nervously around the door, since waking up Cait had explained to her how they knew each other and they’d spent a fair bit of time together and Harry had come to trust her “can you help me, my side still hurts”  
          “Sure, what do you need?” the young woman said in her singing Irish lilt, stepping through the door and closing it behind her,  
          “Can you help me get this off?” Harry gestured to her top and Cait gladly jumped towards her, “I’m sorry about this”  
         “Nah don’t be sorry... ouch that’s a nasty bruise still” Cait reacted once Harry stood before her in just a bra and some pajama shorts. The girl reached up and gently ran her calloused hands tenderly along Harry’s soft, bruised skin, the contact hurt a little but she found herself tingling from the contact. Cait looked up into her eyes from where she was crouched at her side, without speaking the ginger girl placed a soft kiss on Harry’s side sending a shock of surprise straight to her spine and down to her crotch. Harry looked at her friend her eyes wide with confusion and shock but also slight arousal, Cait looked up at her, smiling somewhat knowingly,  
           “So, putting on this dress now or what?” Cait asked, pulling Harry from the million thoughts fighting for dominance in her mind, honestly she didn’t want Cait to move but couldn’t really understand the feelings welling up in her stomach,  
          “Em....yes I... Em... I suppose so” she stuttered, Cait grinned at her again and gently lowered her onto the bed, locking her thumbs in the waistband of her shorts she carefully pulled them down over the cast that came up Harry’s thigh. Sat on the bed wearing just her underwear Harry’s heart was racing, she wanted Cait to lift her arms up to her knickers and pull those down too but she just held her breath and ignored those feelings. Instead she let Cait take her hands and pull her to a stand, throwing the soft clean fabric over her head and helping her pull the sleeves over her arm,  
          “Right, ready to zip up?” Cait asked, Harry just nodded and Cait pulled the zip up her back, “you look beautiful”  
          “Thank you Cait” Harry looked down at herself and smiled, the dress fit perfectly and the colour looked so good on her, it was a perfect choice “so, where am I going all dressed up?”  
          “Not far, Preston will take you” Cait said, handing Harry her crutch and calling for Preston, who came in and took her arm to lead her out of the house.  
          Outside the stars above shone like diamonds scattered on black velvet, Harry had never seen stars like that before the bombs fell, it was one of the things she loved most about the new world. The marketplace loomed in front of her, it’s soft lighting dimming the stars she admired,  
           “Do you think you can make it up the stairs?” Preston turned to her taking his arm from her and taking her hand instead,  
          “I’m going up there? Yes I suppose I could manage” she struggled her way up to the rooftop pub to find Hancock stood by the bar, a glass in each hand. The usual tables had been pulled to the side and the chairs stacked, candles were dotted about, hundreds of them twinkling in the darkness, stood on tables and the railings and the floor, it felt like she was walking through the stars themselves, the jukebox playing classical music softly,  
          “Ahh there you are, you look wonderful “ he held out a glass and Harry walked over to take it from him, she noticed that his usually messy but grand clothes were clean and pressed and he looked very... dashing.  
          “You did all of this Hancock?” she asked, taking a sip of a whiskey that brought her mind back to sitting by a warm fire in midwinter, wrapped in a fur blanket with Nate and enjoying the simple life of pre war America. She sighed and wondered how Hancock had managed to find a bottle of her favourite pre war whiskey,  
          “Call me John, please and yes, you said date is this ok?” he looked unsure for a second before his confident smirk returned,  
          “It’s wonderful, thank you”  
          “You’re worth it, can you dance?”  
          “I don’t know, maybe we should find out” he took her hand in his and carefully spun her, rolling her into his arms and guiding her around in time with the music. She was clumsy, her limbs still getting used to being used again, she stood on his foot with the big cast a few times, apologising awkwardly each time, he just laughed and pulled her into a sweeping spin. As the song slowed to a stop she found her head laying on his shoulder and her eyes falling closed, breathing in Hancock’s scent she felt at ease, comfortable, safe an old emotion tingling at the back of her mind, seeming like her lost memories trying to break through,  
          “I think I liked the way you smell John”  
          “You remember that?”  
          “Not so much a memory, more a feeling of familiarity” She told him, looking into his bottomless black eyes that reflected the candlelight, he smiled, leading her to the table set for two and covered in yet more candles, he clapped his hands and after a moment Preston appeared, two plates of warm food in his hands,  
          “Dinner is served” he said, placing them in front of the seated couple,  
          “How did you get roped into this Preston” Harry asked,  
          “I asked him is all” Hancock sounded a little hurt,  
          “Anything for you general” Preston bowed and left them alone to eat  
          “Typical, no one ever does things for me anymore even my own damn neighbourhood watch pay more attention to you now” he shot a look of mock derision at her and she giggled.           As they ate they talked, at first about things she didn’t remember but eventually the topic slipped to other things, Hancock regaled her with animated stories and she told him jokes from the old world that she remembered. They danced again, him holding her up for most of it and after a few failed attempts she managed to get the hang of her own feet and found out she could actually be quite graceful. The sun was rising, painting the sky in bright colours by the time they were done dancing and Hancock pulled over the two chairs so they could watch the way the light danced patterns on the clouds. That was until he realised Harry’s eyes were closing, her head on his shoulder and helped her back to the house and into bed, with a chaste kiss on her forehead he left her to sleep.

 


	37. Something Close To Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry’s still recovering with the help of some friends

          Months had passed now, Harry’s leg was out of plaster and Danse was hanging around more and more getting away from the brotherhood as much as he could to help her recover. However much Hancock hated him hanging around her he couldn’t fault the big guy’s loyalty and was thankful he could be her rock when she was taking so long to get back to normality, Hancock himself had never been the rock kinda guy. He’d been spending a lot of time with her himself, he was actually starting to get used to this whole dating thing, now he was setting up for their third date whilst Danse and Cait taught her a little hand to hand combat. The second date he’d taken her along to the red rocket truck stop and shown her all the changes she’d made there, she was mostly just happy she could walk that far without needing a crutch but she’d marveled at the ingenuity of some of the things they’d done to the place. This one was better, he’d made sure to pick the perfect spot and the weather couldn’t have turned out more perfect, he heard the sounds of the lesson coming to a close and Danse showing her the outfit he’d picked out, it was a green gingham dress that she’d worn some time in the past and he loved the way her hair laid against it.  
          “Well look who it is” he said as she stepped out of the house, her hair was a little longer now, falling at her chin in scruffy waves and framing her face, she looked younger, cute and the dress just made her look like an angel,  
          “How do I look?” she asked him, spinning around so he could see the whole thing and frankly he was taken aback, if this was how she dressed back before the bombs she must have had a lot of men staring as she walked down the street,  
          “Dazzling… are you ready to go?” he took her hand, lifting it to his lips and placing them on the soft skin for longer than he had intended to, any excuse to touch her really,  
          “Go where though?” she asked brightly with a smile than made Hancock’s knees weak,  
          “It’s a surprise… and I’m going to have to cover your eyes I’m afraid, do you trust me?” she nodded and, without letting go of the hand he held Hancock wrapped himself behind her and placed one scarred hand over her eyes. She was so close, stood just in front of him, their bodies almost touching, he could smell her and she smelled of flowers and soap and her own musk, it was a smell he brought to mind every night before he fell asleep alone, missing her body next to his,  
          “John?” she questioned pulling him out of his own little world, he realised he must have been stood there just holding her like that for a while,  
          “Sorry love” he started to maneuver her forwards holding one hand over her eyes and the other in hers in front of them to guide a blind Harry along, “watch your step”  
          “I can’t exactly watch anything, you’d catch me if I tripped though right?”  
          “Always” he said with conviction, he really meant it, “ah here we are”

          Harry blinked in the light as the scarred hand was pulled away from her face, they were stood in the one remaining bit of land not used for something in Sanctuary, down by the river with the bridge to their distant right and the babbling water below the brick walls making it peaceful. By her feet was a blanket, it was mostly clean and she noticed it had once had little blue flowers on it, long since faded and placed on top was a delicate wickerwork basket that had no right to have survived 200 years and a nuclear war. John sat down first and gestured for her to join him,  
          “Where did you get your hands on that” she asked, pointing to the basket as she sat down next to him,  
          “Ahh well that’s my secret” he tapped at the air where his nose would have been had it not been lost quite some time ago,  
          “And what’s in it?”  
          “Well there’s this” he pulled out wine, old wine and two glasses pouring one for her before reaching back in to show her more. Soon the blanket was set with all kinds of goodies, fresh baked bread made with razorgrain, roasted brahim, snack cakes and watermelon slices, they feasted and talked and she giggled at his stupid jokes. Once she was so full she couldn’t fit in another bite she sighed and laid back to watch little white clouds skitter across the sky, for a while Hancock just sat there and looked at her, she was very conscious of his eyes scanning her body while she looked away, her attention struggling to focus on the blue of the sky. After what felt like hours he joined her and laid at her side, his usual bright red coat discarded and his soft, baggy shirt gently moving in the breeze, she wriggled herself closer to him until they were laid with their sides touching and she could feel his hard body against her hips. Harry looked up at him, looked deep into his eyes and he brought one arm up to cradle her head, her heart fluttered and she was overwhelmed with the urge to kiss him, to bring back the memory of how his barely there lips felt against hers. With a nervous lump in her throat and her chest so full it might burst she lifted herself up and leaned into him.  
          Closing her eyes as her lips came to meet his, he made a shocked little noise and froze before relaxing into it, parting his lips slightly and running his tongue over her top lip with a little flick, she shuddered and sighed pushing her body more into his. It was slow and tender and she realised she loved the taste of his mouth on hers, she never wanted it to end but when it did she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes just breathing him in,  
          “That was… surprising” he said, giving her a little squeeze,  
          “I had an urge to kiss you so I went with it… should I be sorry?”  
          “Oh no don’t ever be sorry for following urges when I’m concerned” she laughed,  
          “Back before I forgot everything did you do stuff like this often?”  
          “What kissing you?”  
          “No, like surprising me with a picnic”  
          “We didn’t get the time often but it’s definitely the sort of thing I’ll fit into our day from now on” he grinned at her, his eyes sparkling,  
          “Good… I like it” she wrapped her arms around his waist and like that they just laid together for a while, soaking up the heat of the sun and enjoying just being together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the last are mostly there to give poor Harry a chance to rest after everything I've thrown at her. Next chapter it'll be back to the drama and protagonist torture.


	38. Remembering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's an attack on Sanctuary and Harry is forced to remember everything.
> 
> WARNING: if you didn't read the last chapter I put a warning on you probably shouldn't read this either... again I'll put a summary at the end so you can keep up with the story.

          Things were getting better, Hancock wasn’t as nervous as he had been and Harry seemed to be enjoying having him around, he felt like they were forming a relationship again, it wasn’t exactly like what they had before, not worse, not better, but it was something new forged on getting to know each other when things were calm and the world was slow. Now that she had kissed him once he was taking every possible opportunity to do it again, soft little chaste kisses to her hand and cheeks or deeper passionate ones, feeling her plump lips against his and tasting her sweet mouth.  
          Danse was still hanging around and she seemed to like spending time with him as well but the two of them had learned a kind of respect, they kept their distance and just let things run their course. Hancock was happy again and that’s how he knew something bad was about to happen. In the end it was all because of Danse. The Brotherhood attacked in the middle of the night, the lights on their power armour blinding the inexperienced settlers as they tried to shoot at them, the 10mm's Harry had supplied them with doing little damage against the heavy power armour. Hancock snapped into military mode right away and got everyone organised into a firing line, some of them screaming at the sight of blood spurting from bullet wounds once he told them all to concentrate fire at their heads or the soft joints in the power armour rather than firing blindly. Preston was doing similar with another small group armed with a mishmash of laser weapons, rifles and 10mm, together with the turrets set up along the street and at the entrance they were soon surrounded by the bodies of knights and scribes alike, there were a few bodies of unfortunate settlers too. He thanked god that they had underestimated them, that Preston was a military type and that everyone there was well armed. No one knew that Maxson had snuck past them with a few men and somehow gone straight for Harry’s house.

          He slammed her body into the wall and threw his hand to her throat strangling the cry forming on her lips. She didn’t know who he was, but the burn in his bright blue eyes scared her right down to the bones,  
          “Who are you?” she whispered hoarsely, unable to raise her voice, this just made him angrier and the blue burn brighter,  
          “I own you, did you forget that here with all your disgusting little friends?”  
          “I don’t know who you are” she tried to squirm from his grip, eyeing up Deliverer, the gun she’d been given by Deacon (or so Hancock told her), on the table too far for her to reach and therefore useless with the hulking man's hand around her throat and his body pressed against her, pinning her to the wall. His grip tightened and she felt her head spin, the inevitable blackness drawing in,  
          “Oh no, don’t you dare pass out you’re going to watch whilst I kill all of them, then I’m going to put you on your knees in front of me and you’re going to tell me again and again who you belong to” she tried to struggle again as soon as he loosened his grip but to no avail, this man was twice her size and solid muscle without her weapons she was nothing against him. His eyes narrowed and he loosened his grip more but only to reach up and take a handful of her short hair in his other hand, “I have to admit I regret cutting off your long hair, it was one of the things I loved most about you”  
          “YOU” she glared up with wide eyes as she came to the realisation of who this man was and filled every word with spite “YOU DID THIS TO ME”  
          “Yes and if that little band of freaks hadn’t taken you from me I would have kept you safe, kept you all for me” she spat in his face and he again tightened the grip on her throat “good to see you got that spark back”  
          “You bastard, you fucking bastard” he laughed as he used a cloth to wipe the spittle from his face with his free hand, he seemed so calm but there was a fever running deep underneath,  
          “By the way right now my men are probably killing all of your little friends, especially that fucking synth” her head was light from him holding onto her neck so tight and ragging her hair and she didn’t understand what he meant but he went on talking despite the confused look on her face “you see my love, we got hold of that holotape you stole from us, I have people even in the Railroad you know and do you know what we found there?”  
          “Should I care?” she tried to feign indifference even as she felt a mix of fear and rage filling her up,  
          “Yes you should, Danse… god I trusted him so much and all along he was a fucking synth spy“ as he said this the man in question was brought in without his power armour, wearing just some jogging bottoms that she distantly guessed he'd been sleeping in, and held between two armour clad soldiers, they forced him to his knees “you know I think he likes you, I’ve seen the way he looks at you so I’m going to have a bit of fun”  
          “I can’t imagine what your idea of fun is” she said spitefully,  
          “Well I can easily tell you… I’m going to fuck you right here and I’m going to make him watch” her eyes widened and the desperate fear inside her spilled over, she started to struggle again but Maxson just laughed and threw her on the floor. She landed hard on her front with all the breath knocked out of her and tried to crawl away but the big man pounced on her taking two of her hands in one of his and holding them behind her back, pulling roughly enough to send shooting pains right up to her shoulders. It took very little for him to rip the dress off her, the buttons at the front popping, he tied the fabric around the arms he was holding,  
          “Get off me” she kicked against him as hard as she could and wriggled around but he held her face down on the dirty floor with one arm pressed in the small of her back. Without hesitating he pulled down her knickers,  
          “Harry… I’m sorry” danse said to her, his eyes pleading but empty, he’d given up, she could feel the resignation seeping from him as he bowed his head trying to look away as Maxson positioned himself over her, pinning her down with his considerable weight. One of the men holding Danse grabbed his face holding it roughly at the chin in a gloved hand and forced him to watch as the man he had once respected pushed himself inside her. Maxsons weight lay above her and he roughly jammed his hard cock into her, she felt like she was being pulled apart and in the midst of that feeling it all came back. Five years of memories hitting her like a train and starting with the horrible things she had suffered from this monster who was growling as he pushed inside her, thrusting again and again. With the images of torture and pain flashing before her eyes she no longer saw the room or Danse crying as he watched and she could hear a noise filling her ears, a blood curdling scream that seemed like it had all of that pain and horror, all the memories fighting and mixing in it, she realised it was coming from her.

          Hancock heard it first, a piercing all consuming scream that filled the air… it was coming from Harry’s house,  
          “PRESTON” he shouted across a street filled with bodies and fighting, the man nodded, he had heard it too and knew what it meant, Harry was in trouble, serious trouble. Hancock ran as fast as he possibly could, huffing jet as he went, doubling his speed and grabbing a syringe of psycho and jamming it into his arm as he ran. He burst through the door, sword in hand to a scene from his nightmares. Harry was pinned to the ground, naked, with Maxson on top of her, his bare arse thrusting into her again and again whilst Danse was held there, made to watch. He slashed at the man, leaving a deep cut across both of Maxsons arse cheeks and stopping him in his stride, the other men dropped Danse and made for their weapons but didn’t manage to draw them before backup arrived. Preston had brought in a gang of men and women all holding weapons trained directly on the intruders. Hancock grqbbed a handful of hair, forcing Maxson to stand and the Elder struggled to pull up his pants, it wasn’t long before the blood was seeping through them.  
          Hancock, held the tip of the sword to his throat and panting and almost feral, snarled at the man, “I'm going to remove each of your limbs slowly and with surgical precision and if you survive that I’ll throw you out in the wasteland and see what eats you first”  
          “John” a small voice met his ears and he stopped seeing everything else in the room the second he heard the soft, ringing sound of his name, his vision narrowing in on her. He just dived to Harry’s side and pulled her into a hug, her arms still tied behind her,  
          “I remember… oh John Hancock I love you” she started to sob into his chest repeating “I love you” through tears,  
          “I love you too” Hancock whispered, reaching around to untie the dress and help her to slip it back on, her hands free she wrapped them around his neck and buried her head on his shoulder and just cried as he held her, his heart aching for every sob,  
          “What do you want us to do with them?” Preston asked him, he didn’t fucking care right now, in this exact moment he just wanted to hold onto the woman he loved and make all the pain go away,  
          “Just get rid of them” he said dismissively. If he had said that to Fahrenheit chances are she’d have lined them all up and put a bullet between their eyes and Hancock would have been happy but this was Preston and he took get rid of them to mean chase them out of town. Later on Hancock would regret that turn of phrase but right now he just wanted to get Harry away, to anywhere that wasn’t there.  
          He carried her all the way to red rocket, it had good defences and a few unused beds that were there as a way house if Sanctuary was too full or someone needed to stop on the way there. Danse followed them, on edge and shaking, his gun held up ready to shoot anyone that dared get in their way and once there he stayed outside and stood watch all night. Hancock laid Harry gently on the double bed in her office and curled up behind her, holding onto her like she was his lifeline, she cried and cried and he just silently held her until, still sobbing she fell asleep. Hancock didn’t sleep at all that night, just laid there holding her his mind running over all the horror he had seen in her eyes when she’d looked at him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I made Maxson into a very very sick man who just has to get his own way and if he doesn't he's consumed with the need for vengeance.
> 
> This is how I think a Maxson that's just this sick and twisted would react to both Harry getting rescued and Blind Betrayal... it's kinda taking his arsehole side to the very extreme.
> 
> Summary for those who didn't read it: the Brotherhood attack Sanctuary and while everyone is distracted defending the town Maxson finds Harry. She doesn't remember who he is but figures it out pretty quickly, then he had Danse brought in and made to watch while he... well you can probably guess the rest of that sentence. Harry remembers everything, the whole thing rushing in at once and screams... loud. Hancock comes running in full of chems and half feral, gives Maxson a damn impressive wound and makes some damn impressive threats. But, distracted by caring for Harry he says "just get rid of them" when Preston asks what he wants to do with theremaining Brotherhood soldiers... He is probably going to regret that and the fact that it doesn't mean the same thing to the minuteman as it would to Fahrenheit.
> 
> The chapter ends with Hancock and Danse taking Harry to the Red Rocket and he holds her as she falls asleep.


	39. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After everything that's happened the group have to figure out how to put all the pieces back together.

          Harry could feel the pain in her side blossoming and a heavy body pinned against her in the dark, shouted words and screaming were blurring together and echoing off walls she couldn’t see. She kicked and fought and a hand on her arm coincided with a bright flash of light and thick muscular arms wrapping around her, shrieking and struggling to break free she tried to scratch at the man holding her but her arms were pinned so she did the only thing left and sunk her teeth deep into the flesh of his shoulder. She tasted blood,  
          “FUCK… Harriette” Danse released his grip and watched her wriggle to the corner of the bed shaking and wrapping her arms around her knees, her eyes red rimmed and distant. After a while the truth of her surroundings filtered through to the animal part of her mind and it relaxed its grip, letting her reclaim her senses. Her eyes snapped up to Danse and his worried face,  
          “I’m sorry Danse” she looked at him as he relaxed a little but didn’t move, she wanted to tell him it would all be ok but it wouldn’t, not now,  
          “That’s ok Harriette, you clearly weren’t in your right mind” he spoke softly like she was a wild animal who would dart off at a single movement,  
          “Where’s Hancock?” her eyes darted about the room as she looked for him, still in a slight state of panic. She needed her ghoul so badly, it felt like he would ground her, keep her on this plane and not let her slip back into that dark place,  
          “He’s outside, on watch. You can go out if you want, I’ll make some coffee for us all and bring it out to you” he finally grinned, that dorky simile of his, even as he rubbed at his shoulder. Harry stood from the bed, the sheets already thrown to the floor in her fit as she reached the door Danse spoke up again “it will be ok you know… eventually”  
          “I don’t even know anymore” she bowed her head and made for the outside. Hancock was sat in a pair of old airplane seats she’d once dragged there in a vague attempt to make the place more liveable, leaning over the last embers of a small fire trying to warm himself from the cold bite in the wind. She paused and just stared at his hunched figure, the rough skin on his cheek filled with shadows and light and his hands clasped in front of him. He must have heard her as she stood there, he pulled himself straight and turned in one smooth fast movement, when he saw her his face brightened,  
          “Morning sunshine” he motioned for her to join him on the free seat beside him so she walked over and gingerly sat down, she still hurt and winced as she felt a shooting pain at the contact, “hey sister, are you ok?”  
          “No not really” she didn’t just want to give him platitudes, he wouldn’t want to hear that she was fine when she so clearly wasn’t,  
          “Oh hon… I know… anything I can do?” he lifted a hand as if to touch her shoulder comfortingly but instead it just hovered there for a moment before retreating to his lap,  
          “Yes, just be here and be yourself… I don’t need treating like a china doll I just…” she trailed off, she honestly didn’t know what she needed but she knew that she didn’t want this man to change one little bit. She pushed the encroaching pain away and forced herself to brighten a little “I bit Danse”  
          “Really?” he laughed and sat back in the chair “would’ve loved to see that”  
          “Yea, I woke up and he hugged me, I didn’t know who he was so I bit him… Hard” she laughed too, it was good to know that, at least this moment she could feel normal again. Maybe that was recovery, just having moments of normality that got more common until one day they joined together and, without noticing things would be normal again,  
          “Look love, you know I don’t have much love for the guy but… I don’t think he’s doing too well what with all… that… finding out who he really is. I hate to ask it of you but maybe you should talk to him, help him out”  
          “No that’s perfect I think helping him will take my mind off… everything”  
          “Do you really remember all of it?” his face dropped and even through the scars he looked white with fear,  
          “Yes… well most of it, I think I spent a fair while unconscious whilst I was… down there” neither of them could bring themselves to really say the words, anything too specific would have her right back there reliving the memories and her ghoul seemed to sense that,  
          “You’re safe now you know”  
          “You said that before and he still found me”  
          “I’m sorry love… I wish I could have protected you better” he looked at her, his big black eyes shining and she could see just how sorry he was,  
          “No it’s not that… I just don’t want meaningless platitudes, promises we don’t know if we can keep… I want you to be honest with me and not just say what I want to hear”  
          “Well if honesty is what you want I’ve got bucket loads of that… honestly I don’t know what happened to Ma-him and his dickweeds after we found you, if I’d have told Fahr to “just get rid of them” they’d be in a ditch somewhere full of bullets but I don’t think Preston thinks like that. You’re gonna have to stop me from loosing it if he just let them go you know” Danse appeared behind them, coffee mugs in hand and passed them out, positioning himself on the floor with his knees bent casually in front of him,  
          “Are you ok Danse… how’s your shoulder?” Harry asked him once he was sat comfortably. He showed them, pulling at the collar of the t-shirt he’d put on to come out and revealing the clear shape of a bite mark, red and a little bloody against his tanned skin the shade of what would be one hell of a bruise starting to show,  
          “Well Harry I’m impressed” Hancock said with a gentle nudge to her good side “you’ll have to try out those gnashers on me sometime”  
          “You mean you would… enjoy this” Danse said shocked,  
          “Oh Danse, do I need to give you a talk about the birds and the bees?” Hancock mocked, the ex-soldier just glared at him for a while, presumably unable to think of a comeback, eventually he gave up,  
          “We should head over to see Preston, ask what happened, see what’s going on there now” Danse suggested as Harry took a well needed sip of the hot liquid,  
          “I don’t want to go to that house, I don’t ever want to see it again… not after… everything… first Nate and Shaun and now this, it’s like the place is cursed” she said, her head shaking,  
          “Hey it’s fine love, you don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to” Hancock laid his free arm around her shoulder, the other one holding his coffee,  
          “He’s right, you have us with you and at least one of us will stay with you from now on, you have my word on that... I intend to never leave your side again” Danse said looking tense and very very serious,  
          “Might be an idea to have Hancock with me when I wake up… I don’t think your shoulder can take a repeat of this morning” she let out a small laugh trying to break the tension between the three of them,  
          “I’ve had worse” Danse teased,  
          “Oh yea, when?” Harry and Hancock both asked together,  
          “There was this one girl back in the capital, she was crazy, didn’t exactly last long” he blushed a little and smirked at the ground,  
          “Danse you dog” said Hancock and they fell into easy conversation while they drank their coffee. Harry started to wonder why she ever thought the two of them would be different around her, she knew they would both do whatever she needed, even try to get on with each other because her boys were always there for her.

          Harry is one in a million, Hancock mused as he watched her with Danse, she was trying to teach him some cooking skills so they could eat before heading off to Sanctuary. It wasn’t going too well, Danse was not one for a delicate touch and he suspected the ex-soldier would be mostly eating roasted meat if left to his own devices… did synths even need to eat? Nick ate a lot of noodles he knew that much but he vaguely remembered him saying he didn’t need to but then he was all wires and metal inside and Danse was as close to human as possible. Hancock had figured he better bite his tongue and try to get on with the guy for Harry’s sake, he didn’t love it but he loved her and maybe with the two of them they could coax some kindness and understanding out of the guy now the Brotherhood had given up its strangle hold on him,  
          “Harry… what you cooking?” he shouted over to them casually  
          “You mean trying to cook… something with meat so far… I don’t think Danse does Vegetables” Hancock laughed at the look on Danse’s face when she said that,  
          “Bring those sweet cheeks over here for a minute my love” he had meant it to sound loving and casual but she froze, her back straightened and a look of terror on her face, Danse just looked at her in desperation “Harry, what’s wrong?”  
          “Are you ok Kni-Harriette?” Danse asked as Hancock ran over to them and put his hands on her shoulders,  
          “He… that’s… that’s what he called me” she whispered hoarsely, fighting back tears,  
          “What my love?” Hancock said, she wouldn’t even look at him and it was like his whole world was crashing and burning as he looked at the terror on her face,  
          “Yes” she whispered on the edge of a sob, Hancock pulled her in close, wrapping his arm around her shaking shoulders and was surprised when her arms came up his back, resting on his shoulder blades,  
          “I’m sorry, I’ll try not to say it again, will that help?” she nodded into his coat, the tears drying up she pulled herself away and looked deep into his eyes with a weak smile,  
          “Well that was unexpected” she said, trying to laugh but it sounding more like a strangled sob “I guess some things will just bring it back”  
          “We can learn what as we go along” she nodded at Hancock and laid her head back onto his shoulder.

          Danse was inside red rocket packing up some things, she could tell from his shoulders and how they hunched that he was tense, Harry sidled in and stood behind him, watching for a second as he filled a bag with guns and ammo,  
          “I don’t think we need a mini-gun to go to Sanctuary, it is just over the hill” she chided him, one eyebrow raised,  
          “And what about after that soldier… oh… sorry” he turned to look at her and immediately regretted calling her that,  
          “Guess it’s going to take a lot of getting used to, being out of the brotherhood and not being my superior” she said with a small grin,  
          “I suppose it will”  
          “How are you doing?”  
          “I’m… not sure… everything I thought I was is a lie, I thought I’d done so many good things, made a life for myself but in reality I started with nothing and here I am with nothing” he looked angry and pained, like he was about to lash out at a world that had treated him so badly, Harry took a step closer and put a small hand on his shoulder,  
          “Oh Danse you have done good things and you don’t have nothing, you have my friendship and my eternal gratitude… it’s not exactly as good as all you had with them but…” she trailed off, suddenly unsure of herself… was her friendship even worth that much? He sighed, lifting up his shoulders in a shrug and she moved her hand back to her side as though he had rejected her,  
          “How could you be friends with a thing?” he looked so sad, he wasn’t rejecting her or being ungrateful for the comforting she was trying to give, he was pulling himself away because he didn’t think he deserved it. Harry’s long lost maternal instincts started to kick in, he was so young to have been through so much and she just wanted to take all of the hurt away, she knew she couldn’t but right now she could put a stop to him thinking of himself as a thing,  
          “You aren’t a thing, to me you're human and it doesn’t matter where you came from” she piled as much conviction as she could into her voice,  
          “I guess it’ll take a long time to think all of this through”  
          “I’m here for you… whenever you need it” she laid a friendly hand on his arm and looked into those sad eyes and really, truly meant what she said.

          Sanctuary was a mess, the scrap parts of broken turrets and smashed furniture was slowly being gathered into piles the town’s defences in tatters, the small group walked past pools of blood, armored bodies looking like fallen statues but for the red liquid slowly drying onto the tarmac. Hancock poked at a broken sofa, dragged into the street with the toe of his boot whilst he waited for preston, Harry and Danse where at his side and they all looked around them in silent shock at the debris and the bodies that littered the street and the half dead settlers that were trying to clean, expressionless and broken. Hancock was filled with a deepening anger, that the brotherhood would do this to these people simply because Maxson was a jealous meglomaniac hell bent on revenge, it made him seethe. Preston appeared, fresh stitching marring the skin on his neck and a fresh black eye, Harry immediately ran over to embrace him and he flinched at the contact,  
          “Oh I’m sorry” she said, taking a step back and looking him over, taking in his clothes, now even more tatty and the marks on his face “are you ok?”  
          “I will be” Preston replied, his voice sure and calm “how about you Harry?”  
          “Well it’s going to be a long road” the two of them stood in silence for a second looking at the ground, unspoken words filling the air around them. Hancock wanted to hold her and never let her go, never open her up to the risk and pain again but he couldn’t Harry wasn’t the wrap up in cotton wool type she was so tough and brave, instead he got straight to the point,  
          “What happened to the Brotherhood after…” he couldn’t finish that thought, it was still too raw and he didn’t want to reopen that barely scabbed wound, hell it probably always would be too raw,  
          “I gathered up as many minutemen as I could and armed them to the teeth, there were only four of them and Maxson” Harry flinched at the name and Hancock threw an arm around her without thinking, Preston looked at her and carried on “sorry Harry, they’re taking them back to the airport in shame… I don’t think that man will sit for a month after the wound you gave him Hancock”  
          “I’d have felt a hell of a lot safer if they were all dead... only a matter of time though” Hancock muttered through gritted teeth and felt his hand on the knife at his back, it took a soft touch from Harry to bring him back down with a sigh. He really struggled with how the minuteman worked, “look Preston I owe you one but any other time I’d be well within my rights to be really pissed off a that one”  
          “I know but that isn’t my way, with any luck they’ll just run away with their tails between their legs and know not to mess with the Commonwealth again”  
          “I doubt it” Harry piped up, taking hold of the hand at her shoulder and twining her fingers into Hancock’s sending a comforting warmth up his arm “that man is a psychopath and I don’t think he’ll stop until he gets what he wants which is the Commonwealth at his feet”  
          “And you” Hancock said without thinking and immediately regretted it,  
          “Yes, that too” Harry agreed, a sadness in her voice that he could see in her eye too “we need to kill him or give him no choice but to leave and we need to think of a way to do that”  
          “Do you think you can face him Harriette?” this was Danse, he sounded unsure,  
          “She doesn’t have to! I’ll cut that arsehole into pieces, there’s no way...” Harry lifted a hand to silence him and offered a sweet smile,  
          “It’s ok John, with my boys at my side I can do it… we all want a little bit of revenge on him, you aren’t going to take that away from me...are you in Preston?” Harry said, looking to him,  
          “Anything I or my minutemen can do I will”  
          “Good… we’ll need your help in this… and the Railroad, what happened to Deacon anyway?” she asked the whole group,  
          “I don’t know” it was Hancock who answered “he came to see you a few times whilst you were out, he just kind of turns up out of nowhere and disappears the same way, I did catch him once after you woke up, don’t think you’d realised who he was when you talked to him”  
          “I know now, just thought it was a little weird at the time, well we need him and the rest of those kooks on our side in this... we need everything we’ve got” Harry was thinking hard and Hancock smiled at the expression on her face… that’s when the lightning hit, he knew someone who could help out, a crack shot who could easily act as backup if they needed him,  
          “Hey Harry… I think we need to go back to Goodneighbour, it’s time you met MacCready”  
          “Who’s MacCready?”  
          “Best sniper in the whole dam Commonwealth and definitely someone we want on our side… though you might want to bring a lot of caps”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducing the last companion... drumroll please. Seriously it's taken too long for me to put MacCready in and it's not because I don't like him, more because I didn't want to shoehorn him in when it didn't feel natural. Also Danse is clearly being healthy and dealing with this well, he's kicked out of the Brotherhood and immediately pledges his whole damn life to Harry! 
> 
> Thankyou all for the comments and kudos, I think I may have to hold the readers back... everyone's baying for Maxson's blood!


	40. Is He Really A VIP?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and her boys travel back to Goodneighbour to enlist the services of the best sniper in the Commonwealth and work on a plan to get the Brotherhood out of the picture.

 

          Danse insisted on coming along taking his promise to keep an eye on Harry very seriously, She did however insist on putting him in some more normal clothes handing him jeans and a white t-shirt along with a black leather jacket and making him blush when she demanded he take off the flight suit before leaving the room. Standing outside whilst he changed she could hear him grumbling loudly about losing his entire identity and once. He stepped out looking like a well built greaser, the type of guy your mother warned you about and blushing even redder as Harry kept staring at his chest, she had to explain to him that they wanted to blend in as they travelled, that his other clothes were too recognisable and he gave in with a roll of his eyes. She removed her vault suit with a flash of sadness, even though it wasn’t exactly the original one she still felt like it had kept her grounded, connected to her old life, with a sigh she pulled on road leathers and strapped on her armour over them. Hancock flat out refused to leave behind his things but she did persuade him to put on a less noticeable jacket and keep the red one in a bag… wild horses couldn’t get him out of his hat though.  
          The long hike back to Goodneighbour was hard, they had to keep out of sight as much as possible and avoided the roads altogether opting for sprinting through forests of dead trees or wading waist deep through marshes instead. Eventually they got there, exhausted and dirty, the mud and grit of travel having dried onto their clothes and hair but two of them at least happy to be home, Harry spotted the guy in the sunglasses right away and grinned, glad to see Deacon again as he sidled up to them,  
          “Hey Deeks” she said “what you been up to… I got my memories back”  
          “I know… I’ve been waiting for you to turn up here, what took you so long?”  
          “We couldn’t exactly take the most direct route could we?” she said, casting a sidewards glance at the spy “had to keep out of the way… us lot are public enemy number one right now”  
          “Well you do know how to make an impression… Des said now that you’re out and about again she needs to see you… I… didn’t tell her everything, I guessed you would want to keep some things to yourself babe”  
          “Thanks Deeks… got someone to meet first though”

          “MacCready yea, he’s a bit of a dick but he is good at making things dead”  
          “How do you know all of this already?”  
          “Oh sweet cheeks, I’m good at what I do”  
          Hancock, took her hand a little possessively, clearly even after everything he wasn’t above just a little jealousy, either that or he still didn’t trust Deacon after he left them behind, he made to lead her towards the door to the third rail, she pulled back,  
          “Hon… I think I’d like to change first, I don’t know about you but I feel like I’m pretty much made of dirt” she said, pulling him towards the statehouse door like a very muddy tug of war,  
          “I thought we needed to act fast?”  
          “I think we can manage to wash first” she looked over at Danse “what do you think Danse?”  
          “I would like to get out of these dirty clothes and into something a little less… worn” he said, a surprising attempt at sarcasm,  
          “Ohh that reminds me” Deacon piped in, taking a bag from his back “got presents for you all… Tom managed to finish a project he’d been working on, ballistic weave or something. Anyway these are pretty much as good as armour, only they look like normal clothes”  
          “Like… dresses and stuff?” Harry said letting go of Hancock’s hand and grabbing the bag before running to the door, pulling at the zips of the backpack, she was too excited about this idea by half,  
          “NO HARRY… ah shit she’s gone” Deacon shouted to her retreating back, the gang followed her into the statehouse to get cleaned up and find out what Deacon had brought them all.

  
  
          Hancock found Harry in the bathroom running the water and pulling at the clothes in the bag, he watched the excitement on her face with a smile, it had been a long time since he last saw the childish side of her,  
          “I guess this is mine?” she said, holding up a pair of high waisted deep red trousers and a rather fitted looking blouse, “I kinda wanted a dress”  
          “Did Deacon design these?” he asked, he wasn’t sure how he felt about the flirtatious and exciting spy designing Harry something so… sexy,  
          “Are you getting jealous? come on Hancock it’s Deacon, what’s he going to do?”  
          “Well he flirts with you like there’s a million things he’d like to do”  
          “Oh come on, it’s not like everyone in the Commonwealth fancies me, that’s just statistically impossible… besides I think Tinker Tom made these”

          “Either way I still don’t trust him after that stunt he pulled… he just abandoned you to the Brotherhood and then…”

          “He left because I gave him specific instructions not to let the holotape find it’s way to the Brotherhood… fat lot of good that did me… and besides you told me he came back to help in the end” she stared Hancock down and eventually he huffed and nodded. The bath was almost full and she started taking off her dirty clothes, for some reason Hancock looked away embarrassed,  
          “Em… why are you looking like that?” she asked him, he head tilted to the side questioningly while she stood in her underwear in the steam filled room,  
          “I don’t really know… I guess after everything I figured you wouldn’t want me to… you know…” he really was being shy, this was Harry and he felt on edge about seeing her naked or more about how she would feel at him seeing her naked,  
          “Well I don’t think I’m quite ready for… that…” she blushed, god it was so cute, “but you’re ok with us just getting a bath together right? Is it all or nothing?”  
          “Course not Love, I’ll happily go at any pace you want and the idea of a bath sounds great” he realised they’d needed this talk, he didn’t know how far to push or when to and worried he might never make a move on her again in case it hurt her,  
          “Get your kit off then” he did as he was told and slid into the bath, at first apologizing for the ehem… obvious excitement at her naked in front of him, Harry didn’t mind though and soon slid in in front of him, laying herself back on his chest, her head falling back onto his shoulder. She slowly relaxed against him and he felt the water and her proximity releasing the tension in his own muscles, his hand reaching to lay at her waist,  
          “Do you miss my hair?” she asked him,  
          “Yea but this is pretty cute” he gently took a handful of the chin length locks that had been growing pretty quickly,  
          “I don’t know that I like it” she pulled a face,  
          “I do, it’s like the longer it gets the more progress we make, in recovering, in the plan to wipe out the monsters, in everything”  
          “I never thought of it that way” she said, taking some in her own hand. He pushed her off his chest and grabbed the soap and started to wash her beautiful back, the skin was still soft but now he could see the slowly fading marks that were all over her body, they made him ache with sadness and regret but reminded him of her strength at the same time. They helped each other wash and by the end of it the bath water was brown with the mud that had been all over them and her hair was clean and wet around her face. It turned out Deacon had given him something too, but not exactly what he expected. He put on the ballistic weave long johns and showed them to Harry, she giggled as he spun letting her see from all angles, then he put his usual clothes over, surprised by how comfortable they felt underneath. Danse had been given a greaser jacket and jeans, death bunnies embroidered on the back, harry started to laugh at this,  
          “It’s the name of our gang, deacon came up with it when he was dragging me around the commonwealth… I think it’s perfect” she explained, Deacon was wearing one too and held one out to her, she put it on over her blouse and looked wonderful,  
          “I knew you’d like it” Deacon said as he passed Hancock a lapel pin with the same design… he didn’t really approve but if it made Harry happy,  
          “Not really that great for undercover is it?” he said to Deacon, the guy who should have known all of this already,  
          “Ahh well that’s the thing, they’ll be expecting sneaky and disguises but they won’t be expecting this” he replied conspiratorially,  
          “Ok two things?” Harry asked, “one, who are they? and two I don’t think that’s how it works Deeks honey”  
          “Yea I know, just wanted to prove I’ve got one, gonna wear in around HQ Des is gonna hate it! speaking of Des, I’ll go let her know you’re coming as soon as”  
          “Thanks for the duds Deacon” Harry said,  
          “Is that the kind of person you associate with?” Danse said once Deacon had left the room, he’d been watching him with a sulky look on his face the whole time “he’s a buffoon”  
          “Or does he just want you to think he’s a buffoon so drop your guard around him… don’t worry about Deeks Danse, he’s good people” Hancock still wasn’t entirely convinced of that after he’d abandoned them to the Brotherhood, but held his tongue for now.

  
  
          Harry and Hancock were in the third rail, Danse had waited at the state house under the watchful eye of Fahrenheit, people still hadn’t forgiven him for badmouthing them so loudly so it was probably better he stayed behind, Goodneighbour had a talent for mobbing. Hancock led Harry into the VIP room in the third rail, she’d not been back there before and didn’t exactly think that much of it, it just had a few extra decorations and some mood lighting. It did have a guard on the door though which made Harry feel a little less tense. She felt the hand on her back stiffen and Hancock nodded towards three men sat around a table, two of them were wearing gunner green and they immediately put her back on edge, the third was a dirty, young guy in ragged old clothes, they seemed to be having an argument. Hancock gave her a meaningful look and they inched closer to listen in, from what she could tell the scruffy one had left the gunners and the other two were threatening him casually. Harry had never heard gunners talk before, she’d just shot them in the head rather than start a conversation, but all she could tell from these two was that the threats were flying fast and loose with no attempt at veiling them, she felt a little sorry for the scruffy guy. With one last insult and a grit of their teeth the two men charged out, pushing past Harry as they went and the dirty one left behind looked over at them, his face quickly split into a grin like he hadn’t just been abused by two gunners. He didn’t waste any time in standing up and walking over to Hancock,  
          “Well if it isn’t the most Handsome Mayor in the commonwealth” he said, reaching out to shake the ghouls hand warmly a goofy grin on his face,  
          “MacCready how’s business?” Hancock asked, slapping him on the back, Harry felt like she was watching some odd bromance courtship dance as she hovered in the back and eyed the two of them,  
          “Well not exactly the best, but who is this lovely lady?” he reached out to her and she instinctively flinched back, god that was a twitch she’d have to get out of, she couldn’t exactly act hard and tough if she jumped every time someone made to touch her,  
          “This is… Harry she’s my… em… she’s here to talk to you in fact” she gave Hancock a bit of a look at the hesitation wondering what it was about,  
          “Em… Hancock Honey can I have a word?” she pulled him aside and dipped her voice to a low whisper “what was that hesitation about?”  
          “Well I don’t entirely know what you are… lover is too informal… girlfriend sounds like I’m twelve… what are you to me?”  
          “Oh… I don’t know… anyway that’s beside the point, is this really who you brought me here to see?” she glanced over at MacCready to see him smirking in their direction, he left a lot to be desired really with smudges of mud on his face, a silly hat and a duster with only one arm,  
          “Looks can be deceiving... I’m a prime example”  
          “Ok fine but… is he really a VIP?”  
          “He’s really a good marksman, just trust me ok?”  
          “Ok, what’s the worst that can happen?”  
          Apparently the worst that can happen is having MacCready charge you way too many caps, turns out the man was a mercenary and would do just about anything for caps, he was also a cheeky bugger and had pushed for more with a shit eating grin on his face. She was determined to get him to prove his worth so she did pretty much the same as she had with Hancock all those years ago and decided to test him. They had to go get Danse anyway so whilst she was there she asked Fahrenheit about any low level problems she needed taking care of around Goodneighbour. They were in luck, a relatively small group of supermutants had set up shop not far from the gate and dealing with them now would mean they wouldn’t bring in more and become a real threat. Harry whispered her plan to Hancock who grinned to himself at the idea, and off they went.  
          She heard the brutes before she saw them, supermutants were never ones to whisper when they could just as easily shout, she crouched and crept along behind a low pile of rubble until a couple were in view and signalled for Hancock to join her. MacCready found his own hiding spot, not too far away but a bit above them and she watched as he laid his rusty old sniper rifle on the wall in front of him and concentrated. Harry was honestly impressed when the first one fell with a bullet right through the left eye, she looked at the man in surprise before twisting around and picking off a couple of hounds that were running at them. Two more fell to MacCready’s shots and she took down another two, Danse easily hitting some with his laser. Hancock had let out a warcry and ran at one with a sword, easily dodging it’s sledge hammer and running it through a few times before it fell dead before him blood pooling at his boots,  
          “Your boyfriend may just be insane” MacCready said to her with a wink,  
          “I know right?” she said back as Hancock returned, shaking the blood off his boots and wiping a bit of green flesh from his shoulder, grinning ear to ear,  
          “Impressed yet?” MacCready asked her,  
          “I actually am!” she was shocked by the idea that this dirty man with a goatee and a coat that only had one arm could actually be so good, Hancock had been right, he really was worth the money, even if he was a cheeky sod.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post last night/yesterday (I think) I've been having trouble sleeping and I'm basically nocturnal so I'm having problems telling what day it is. In apology have a picture and a nice fun chapter for once.
> 
> Also I apologise for the formatting, the upload screen kept putting spaces where there shouldn't have been spaces and I couldn't figure out how to stop it so just ignore them.


	41. Gathering the Gang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a trip to the Railroad important decisions are made and Harry shows just how stubborn she can be. All the companions gather at the Castle and wait for the plan to be put into action.

           “NO” Harry shouted at Desdemona after she had explained her plan “I will not purposefully kill hundreds of innocent people”  
           “The brotherhood aren’t exactly what I would call innocent” Des snapped back at her, her head held high and a pout on her lips into which she occasionally placed a cigarette,  
           “I don’t exactly agree with their views and I really don’t think they have any right to be here but the soldiers are just following orders they don’t deserve that” she felt Hancock glowing with pride behind her, she knew he hated the brotherhood but he clearly agreed with her as far a massacring a whole army was concerned. Desdemona just hit him with a scathing look,  
           “They are soldiers like you said, they know the risks” Des pointed out “and I don’t exactly approve of you bringing a crowd to our _secret_ headquarters to try and intimidate me” she gestured at the group standing behind Harry, she had honestly thought twice about bringing them all but she wouldn’t let anyone risk their life for her without knowing all the facts,  
           “I assure you Desdemona I’m not trying to be intimidating and if you will hear me out I have a plan of my own that will involve giving the Brotherhood the option of running off with their tails between their legs, killing them all is a last resort if and only if they refuse to leave”  
           “Well what is this plan?” Desdemona’s expression softened a little as Harry told her exactly what she hoped to do and Deacon stood at her side beaming each time she brought up a plan B or second option if things didn't go their way “well it looks like you are very prepared but may I ask why do you have such an overwhelming urge to bring down the Brotherhood? I was under the impression they were part of the big plan to take out the Institute and now they’re the real enemy?”  
           “Boss…” Deacon stepped forward and said in a warning tone but Harry put a hand on his shoulder and he went quiet, a gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by Desdemona who raised an eyebrow,  
           “I don’t have anything against the brotherhood itself, I can see that they are a threat to the commonwealth in the long term but… their boss… Maxson...” she struggled with his name, visibly shaking until she felt Hancock’s hand on her arm, she sighed and continued “he did something to me and worse he attacked my people on some personal vendetta and I won’t let him get away with that”  
           “I understand” Des said, backing down at Harry’s obvious agitation she knew not to push further,  
           “Boss I think I’d be some use in the field with Fixer” Deacon said as he stepped forward towards the woman,  
           “I think she has enough protection don’t you?” Des said dismissively, gesturing towards Harry who was flanked by Hancock and Danse whilst MacCready hovered about in the background poking things and muttering to himself,  
           “No I don’t think she does, the whole Brotherhood is out to get her, specifically her and I think fixer is our best possible chance at a safe commonwealth for synths so I want to be with her at all times”  
           “Fine fine” Desdemona said with a sigh “it’s not like I could do anything to stop you anyway you'd probably just melt through the brick wall or something”  
Deacon grinned and took Harry’s hand, running outside before Des had a chance to change her mind. The others followed with Hancock grumbling a little at the fact that Deacon was holding her hand.  
           “What next?” Hancock asked, pulling Harry away from Deacon the second they were outside, she stopped and looked thoughtful and he took a moment to marvel at the way the dim light made her eyes shine and a contemplative frown played across her face,  
           “Well with the railroad we have transport onto the Prydwen, we have enough backup to last a lifetime, now we just need a good enough threat… Deeks can you get Des to radio Preston, tell him to grab Cait and meet us at the castle”  
           “Will do doll” he said before vanishing back into the catacombs,  
           “Macready can you make your way straight to the castle and help with their defences, you have the best aim and I’m going to need that” Harry looked towards Macready as she said this and he nodded, slung his gun over his shoulder and set off,  
           “Us three are going to grab Curie and Strong, chances are if this thing comes to blows we’ll need her to patch us up and him to… give them back some bigger blows I guess… then head onto the castle to explain all of this to Preston and just hope he can get behind the plan too”  
           “It’ll work, I’ve never known anyone persuade an army to just leave but if someone can it’s you” Hancock told her, putting an arm around her waist and a kiss on her forehead.

          “YOU’VE GOT A FUCKING CASTLE!” McCready yelled as he ran down the steep hill to greet the little gang in a strange sort of gangling prance, like he wanted to jump in excitement and run at the same time. Harry thought back to when she had taken the castle with Danse in tow, grumbling the whole time that this wasn’t official Brotherhood business, it wasn’t lost on her the irony that the place she had cleared on Brotherhood time would play a big part in bringing them down,  
          “Mac you’ve been here days, surely you’re used to it by now?” she said, the marksman had grabbed Deacon by the shoulders and together they were jumping up and down like schoolgirls muttering things about princesses and knights and jousting,  
          “Harry I will never get used to you having a castle” he said, his face becoming serious before bursting into childlike laughter again,  
          “Well it’s not really a castle, it’s a fort and it’s not really mine, it belongs to the minutemen” she informed him, trying not to get dragged into the infectious joy. She looked at the normally stoic spy by her side who was grinning from ear to ear “not you too Deacon?” he just grinned and ran off after McCready who was making his way back into the fort.  
          With Hancock’s hand at her waist she took a moment to take in the changes that had been made about the place since she last saw it. Before leaving she had set down the plans to fill in the holes with big concrete blocks and noted with a smile that that had been finished and a wooden walkway constructed around the top. She’d also made plans for the building of five huge artillery guns, set in concrete and operated with a big hand crank, they were all done and ready to take down any enemy from miles away. But it was the domestic side that impressed her the most, little wooden shacks had popped up all over the place just outside the walls, homes for settlers who could easily retreat inside should something threaten. In between these shacks were crops of every kind, enough to feed all the minutemen and then some all being lovingly tended by the settlers who would happily trade hard work for a chance to be protected by the big stone walls behind them. A gate had been constructed at the hole in the concrete she had designated as a main entrance, it was like an old drawbridge, made from the strongest wood they could find and lowered on chains, all the place needed was a moat and even she wouldn’t be able to argue that it wasn’t a castle.  
          “You want me to wrangle the children?” Nick asked pulling up at her side, they had made a detour to grab Nick and Piper from Diamond City on the way to Oberland for Curie and Strong. Piper had already vanished through the gate, no doubt questioning people with a pen in hand,  
          “No it’s ok Nick you go have fun too, I need to find Preston anyway” she turned to Curie who was waiting patiently for directions “Curie, why don’t you go find whoever runs the clinic and see what supplies they’ve got?”  
          “Of course Madame” the cute little synth strode away towards the gate too,  
          “Strong… oh he’s wandered off” Harry turned her attention to Danse, feeling nervous about his true loyalties but Hancock’s arm at her waist made her brave, “Danse, are you ok?”  
          “No, you intend to destroy everything I have ever known” he glared at her and she felt her heart drop at the thought “but you wish to do it with minimal casualties and for that I thank you” he gave her a curt nod and headed off himself leaving her alone with her ghoul,  
          “You’re with me all the way right John?” she asked not looking at him, he wrapped his hands around her waist from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. No matter how long they have together moments like this still gave her goosebumps, she felt herself relaxing into his grip,  
          “Always” he breathed into her ear “and it is a fucking castle” she could tell from the way he whispered that he was giddy too, just better at hiding it than the trained spy or the marksman.

          Preston and Cait were waiting in the General’s quarters which Hancock noted had a big table set up for meetings in the centre but also had a mucky curtain drawn across what looked more like a bedroom. Harry immediately greeted the minuteman and the little Irish brawler and he veered off to inspect what he assumed would be their bed for the night. Behind the curtain it was cosy, a double bed sided with little tables holding candles, a bookcase in one corner and next to it some drawers, it was sparse and told him how little the General was really here but it would be nice to sleep in a real bed for once,  
          “Hancock, where are you?” Harry’s voice rang out across the room and he poked his head out with a grin at his beautiful woman,  
          “Hey Hancock” Cait said on her way past and out the door, Preston simply nodded in his direction as he sauntered over to the table to look at a big, wrinkled old map of the Commonwealth, scribbled over with updates and changes as the minutemen attempted to make an official map of the area. He sat happily and listened as Harry explained her plan to Preston, he had heard it five times over by now but it still surprised him that Harry was willing to give the Brotherhood a chance in the first place, one that meant someone up there had to be thinking clearly. He was proud of her, of course he was but he was sure he himself wouldn’t have gone to this much risk just to show compassion. Honestly after everything Maxson had done he really just wanted to rip the man apart with his bare hands but if this was the way Harry wanted to do it then so be it.  
          Later that night, after everyone had been shown their beds and stowed away whatever they brought with them they had gathered together in the General’s room to go over everyone’s tasks for the next day, food and drinks were passed around in good quantity and Hancock was happily partaking in his second favourite vice. The jet had slowed time and the mentats made him sharper but he hadn’t exactly needed that to spot the tall muscular man sneaking from the room, he looked over at Harry who had clearly noticed too and nodded her head to him, a signal to give chase. Danse, it turned out, was terrible at sneaking and at hiding, Hancock found him looking dejected on his bunk in the chilly stone hallways, he leaned against the wall and looked the man up and down,  
          “You know you can’t sneak for shit right?” he told him, startling the ex-soldier out of whatever thoughts he was wrapped up in,  
          “I couldn’t listen anymore, I’m sorry” Danse said, looking from the ghoul down to his feet there was such a deep sadness in his voice that made even Hancock feel bad for him and the ghoul, reluctantly, made his way to sit on the opposite bed facing him,  
          “If you don’t think you can do this I’m sure Harry will understand”  
          “Knight Monroe... Harriette... she is so understanding and so kind even to a thing like me but...” he trailed off and Hancock could see him trying to fight back tears,  
          “Look brother, we all know you aren’t my favourite person and I’m sure the feelings mutual but you gotta stop thinking you’re a thing, even I know you’re a decent man and I’ve only just managed to stop hating your guts”  
          “It’s so much change so fast”  
          “I know, that woman in there, she’s like some sorta hurricane, blows into your life and pulls it all apart and by the time you’re done rebuilding it’s a much better life than before. You’re just in the rebuilding bit”  
          “Is that the kind of speech you would give to your little town?”  
          “Probably a bit more... polished... but yea”  
          “Did it work?”  
          “They listened, don’t know about much else”  
          “The thing is I don’t know if I can be part of bringing an end to people I called brother and sister not so long ago, even after what they have done to me”  
          “I’ll talk to Harry, you don’t have to come up with us, she needs troops on the ground to protect the castle if that prick Elder of yours decides to attack while we’re up there... would you be able to defend this place if you needed to?”  
          “I think so yes, Harriette has done so much for me and she is putting herself in danger to try and save as many of the Brotherhood soldiers as she can, I respect that more than she will ever know... I wish I could follow her to the ends of the earth but... I don’t know what I’d do if I got to the Prydwen and came across Haylen or Rhys and had to put a bullet in them”  
          “Hey I get it, I’m lucky to be on the right side of this but if the tables were turned I don’t know if I’d trust myself either”  
          “I asked her once what she sees in you... I think I understand now”  
          “God you aren’t gonna kiss me again are you?” he grinned at the man, his best snarky grin and it worked, the tension fell away as Danse pulled a disgusted face at him and he burst out laughing. Walking away it felt like some invisible line had been crossed between them making the two not quite friends but no longer enemies either.

 


	42. The Big Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day dawns and there's no going back, either the Brotherhood agree to leave the Commonwealth or Harry will bring them down.

          The sky was blue and cloudless through the little window in her room and Harry watched for a while as misshapen birds flew past. She turned over and snuggled into Hancock’s chest and felt his body tense under her as he stretched,  
          “Mornin’ sunshine” he cooed lazily his hands coming down from above him to lay casually around her. It was a moment of simple, blissful, normality like any happy couple waking up on any normal day, he could be about to shower and get ready for work while she would make breakfast and feed the baby. Only there was no baby, the institute saw to that, and no work, not in that sense anyway and the day had instead brought with it the hardest task she had faced so far. Probably best to make the most of the moment then, she thought in an attempt to fight back the fear that crept icy into her veins,  
          “Hancock?” there was a definite tone of question to the word and he opened his eyes and looked down at her with a cocky grin,  
          “Yes love?”  
          “Em... If I think I’m ready but I don’t know for sure would you maybe... try?”  
          “Ready for- ohh sex? Yea sure, you trust me right doll?” she smiled at the question, she trusted no one more than him and he must know that by now,  
          “Yes of course I do”  
          “There you go then” he leaned down and kissed her, carefully parting her lips with his tongue and making her shiver with a strange mix of nerves and excitement. In a second she was on her back, him laid over her, his thighs either side of her hips and a hand reaching up her top, “this ok?” he asked looking seriously into her eyes,  
          “Yes John” she laughed and he gently pressed his head to hers and laughed with her, the way his chest shook and his voice was so gravely made Harry feel safe so she allowed him to lift off her top and run rough fingered hands from her waist to her chest and under the bra. He quickly found her nipples, rolling them between his fingers and making her gasp and arch her back towards him like a reflex ,  
          “Is this ok?” he asked, stopping his tender movements to look into her eyes again and there she saw compassion, caring and a deep love, she kissed him and tried to spill the same feelings into him with her lips, it most likely just came out as passionate. She fiddled behind her and managed to release her breasts, throwing the cumbersome garment across the room, Hancock looked at her for a second before his lips were on her chest biting and kissing the way to a nipple. He sunk his teeth into the soft flesh slowly, overwhelming her senses long enough for a low groan to escape,  
          “You sure this is ok?” this time when he stopped and looked up at her she glared down at him,  
          “How about you stop asking and I just tell you if it’s not ok, if I don’t say anything just assume it is ok alright?”  
          “Sorry love I just... I don’t want to hurt you”  
          “There’s no need to be so cautious, just be you” he grinned and returned to what he had been doing, running the end of a stiff tongue against her pert nipples which made her hips jerk against his waist. He slipped a hand into her knickers, parting her to find the clit and circling it with his finger while his tongue made the same motion on her chest. She moaned and thrust herself future onto his hand, he obliged and let two fingers slip gently inside her wetness and she moaned letting her lids drop closed and her head fall back. She felt his hand on her waist and a pain blossoming underneath it, her breathing grew heavy, hard to drag in through the pain in her chest and deep laughter rang in her ears,  
          “I missed you my love” the unmistakable lilt of Maxson’s voice filled her mind and she screamed, pushing hard against the chest in front of her she scrambled over the back of the bed and struggled into the far corner of the room, eyes darting around in panic. The reality of where she was started to drift through the smog of memory and she half watched as Hancock pulled on his pants and walked over to her, slow and supplicating like approaching a wild animal,  
          “Harry honey... sunshine... oh doll... come here” he muttered, low and gravely like a sigh on the wind, she felt his rough arms around her chasing away the last curls of fog and leaving the memory in the past. He hushed her, rubbing one hand over her hair “it’s ok... it’s ok” he whispered again and again until she relaxed, body melting against his,  
          “I’m sorry John... I’m so sorry” tears fell as she sobbed into his bare chest, the salty water running along the crevices in his skin, he just kept on stroking her hair and whispering to her until it had died down,  
          “What are you sorry for sunshine?” she looked up at that question, gazing at him with red rimmed eyes only to see a faint smile playing across his lips,  
          “I thought I was ready, I messed up”  
          “No you didn’t, I’m happy you trust me enough to try in the first place love”  
          “I just... I’m scared John”  
          “Of what?”  
          “Of losing you” he shook his head but she ignored him and just went right on talking “I’m scared of never being ready, that it’ll never happen or that one of us will die today and then he’ll have won... If I die today Maxson will have been my last... partner” she finished with a defeated sigh, it was hard to say the man’s name even now but she wouldn’t give him the power to come between them like this,  
          “So we don’t die today and anyway the sex isn’t what makes someone your partner really, if that’s all it was then... well you know about my history” she let out a breathy laugh which made him smile “No, partner’s means being there, going through shit together and caring not just sex… especially… what he did really really doesn’t count”  
          “We’re good then?”  
          “Always”  
          “Even without sex?”  
          “I’ll manage... somehow”  
          “You could... I don’t know... sleep with other women... If it’s hard for you”  
          “I don’t want to” from the look on his face that had surprised John as much as it had her, she had always assumed he still looked but... wow “apparently I’m a one woman ghoul now... In every sense”  
          Harry allowed him to help her dress and get ready, talking her up until she felt invincible enough to ignore the swelling ball of nerves that would eventually take over if she didn’t manage to squash it down. When determination didn’t work chems did and with a mild dose of something Hancock had cooked up she was ready to take on the world.

          Hancock stood a little behind Harry, his face a grim mask of determination as he watched her point a gun at Maxson’s head. He saw her shaking a little as she spoke and lifted a hand to her back, just to let her know he was still there, the shaking stopped a fact that was not lost on the tall, young man in front of them.  
It had been a long day, after Harry was calm and they both were dressed they stepped outside to await the Railroad. Right on time the vertibird kicked up dust and landed in front of the castle, Deacon jumped out and gestured them inside, handing headsets and brotherhood armour to everyone who was coming. Headsets on they could hear him explaining how the ‘bird had been lifted off the police station after a shootout that Deacon described as ‘a piece of cake’ yea right, but no matter how hard it had been to get they had it now and Tinker Tom was... adequate in the pilot's seat, apparently he’d learnt it all from a manual which wasn’t surprising given how the thing was flying. Curie had been left behind on standby for any medical emergency they might return with and Danse and McCready were stood on the castle walls ready for her signal, Strong was still nowhere to be found which meant Harry, Piper, Nick, Deacon, Cait, Hancock and Tom were now all squashed into the back of one vertibird that was not too steady in the air. Hancock hoped to god no one threw up as he felt his stomach churn each time the thing dipped in the sky, but they all got there unhurt and clean and we’re allowed to dock and depart. Everyone but Harry and Deacon both wearing their BoS armour, turned a dial on a stealth boy and it looked to everyone on board that it was just two Brotherhood soldiers out for a walk, even if the door stayed open for too long when they went through it. Once on the command deck Nick and Piper (who made a really good team) knocked out the two guards in power armour with pulse grenades and locked them away in a cupboard before donning the metal frames themselves and standing just close enough to block the view of the big, window filled room in which the other four stood. The whole thing was over in a few minutes and now they just had to hope it all worked.  
          “Elder” Harry said, drawing Maxson’s attention to the gun trained on his forehead “I wouldn’t make any sudden moves if I were you, oh and the guards at the door won’t help you, they’re mine”  
          “What are you doing knight Monroe?” Maxson asked, not a muscle of his strong body moving,  
          “You called me something different when you had me locked away in the airport didn’t you?” she glared at him and Hancock watched as Deacon slipped out of sight and turned on his own stealth boy,  
          “You came here alone Harriette, did you hope to rekindle something my love?” he saw Harry shiver as the sick man spoke to her, his tone halfway between a lover and a hated enemy,  
          “But I’m not actually alone” with that they all appeared, Cait behind him an evil grin on her face, Deacon on one side somehow looking Nonchalant and Hancock stood proudly behind her, all of them with guns trained on the Elder’s face, “I came here to give you an ultimatum, leave the commonwealth or everyone on this ship dies and the Prydwen goes up in smoke, if you refuse you will die right here like the animal you are... you see Maxson I’m not like you, I give people a chance to make the right choice, I don’t manipulate them into it then hurt them when they find something better”  
          “What power do you have to destroy my ship?” Maxson sneered mockingly and Hancock had to fight the urge to pull the trigger, or beat him into a messy pulp,  
          “I thought you’d ask that so I set up a little demonstration” she lifted a radio from her side and Hancock grinned as she pressed the button once. The sound of an explosion ran through the ship causing it to dip through the air tipping everyone violently to the side, Cait struggled to keep her balance and Maxson almost fell but the others were able to stay stood, their guns still pointed a Maxson’s head,  
          “Down there I have the castle and it has artillery that could easily bring this whole mess of ship crashing to the ground but I don’t want that to happen unless it has to” the Elder watched her, his mouth open in shock as Harry spoke with a calm confidence Hancock knew was probably part chem “don’t get me wrong Elder, I will do it and I won’t hesitate to pull this trigger but I also want to give you a chance, it’s not one offered to many but I will offer it to you... leave here with your tail between your legs and your life and the lives of all your soldiers in tact”  
          “No, never” there was a commotion outside and Deacon went off to see what it was, they could hear him explaining to the crowd that the Elder was in an important meeting right now, not to be disturbed. There was argument, of course there was but so long as the spy kept them arguing they weren’t about to burst in guns blazing and that bought them time. Unfortunately the Brotherhood’s boy king kept on talking “Harriette I loved you, why would you do this to me?”  
          “You don’t know what love is you sick bastard” Hancock growled at him, he could see Harry shaking mutely so he stepped closer placing one hand softly on her back, just to let her know he was there, the other hand holding a gun still pointed at Maxson’s head “if I had my way I’d make you suffer… but this is her fight”  
She stopped shaking long enough to bark out “one last chance Maxson” his name spat like acid across the floor,  
          “Never, I came here to do something and I will do it-“ he was cut off by Harry, after centring herself with a deep breath she pulled the trigger and the man crumpled to the floor, a bullet perfectly placed between his eyes,  
          “Last of the Maxson line” Harry muttered as Hancock spat disgustedly on the body then pulled her into a big sweeping hug, pulling the vial out of his pocket ready to offer her more of his own concoction to calm her nerves. She placed a hand over his and softly shook her head before waving Cait over and sending her to find Proctor Ingram “ok now I need some of that shit”  
          “I’m proud of you sister… I would have made it last longer, he didn't deserve a quick clean death, but I’m still proud of you” he said as he quickly injected the chem into her arm. She opened her mouth to reply but yet more commotion outside caught both their attention and Hancock hid away the vial as quick as a magic trick when Cait appeared with the Proctor. Harry had already raised her gun and pointed it at the new woman who had to cover her mouth not to scream when she saw the body on the floor,  
          “I’m sorry it had to come to this Ingram I really am” Harry had returned to the calm, confident negotiator and the Proctor looked her up and down with hate,  
          “You did this?” Ingram spat “I suppose that explosion was you too?”  
          “Yes, artillery at the Castle, would you like another demonstration?” Harry raised her hand, the radio still in it the older woman shook her head and a few gunshots were heard outside the room along with Deacon’s shouting,  
          “You came to show off I suppose, to get the chance to gloat over what you can do before you kill us all?”  
          “No, I came to give you the same chance, I gave him” she gestured at the body “an ultimatum, leave the commonwealth or I kill everyone aboard this ship... I had... personal reasons to want the Elder dead... you I have no real problem with, so I’ll give you two days to decide. By Noon, 48 hours from now, if this ship is still at the airport I will fire on it and bring it to the ground”  
          “You realise we will just attack the castle?”  
          “I am aware of that, we are ready to defend it but your leader is dead and an army without command is like a body without a head... Cait, take the coat, it’ll look good on you” she turned away from Ingram as Cait looted the body and then all three used their stealth boys to disappear,  
          “GET THAT MAN OUT OF MY SIGHT” Ingram yelled gesturing towards Deacon and allowing the two power armour clad guards to escort him away “SEARCH THE SHIP, THEY’RE USING STEALTH BOYS” panic broke out and everyone ran in different directions as Deacon was escorted from the ship aboard a Vertibird that only contained him and the two power armour clad guards. It wasn’t until Piper removed her helmet that the others popped back into reality,  
          “Bloody hell those things aren’t comfortable” Piper mused as Nick removed his helmet too,  
          “Well I think that went quite well” they synth said, turning around in the cumbersome suit. Hancock was stood by Harry reassuringly rubbing her back as she bent double hyperventilating, “you ok Doll?”  
          “I’m... fine” she said in short breaths that made Hancock feel warm, marvelling at her determination to keep going through anything,  
          “We got more power armour too” he piped up, Harry straightened catching her breath and nodded at him,  
          “Danse will be happy” she said with a smile,  
          “Keep up that humour Blue, it’s going to be a long two days” they all went silent after that and Piper looked a little sheepish for pointing it out. The vertibird landed about an hours walk from the Castle and the little group set out for the silent walk back to wait until an army attacked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For everyone desperate for Maxson's blood there you go! I'm going to explain why I wrote it like that, I know a lot of people would have put him through more... torture... and Hancock probably would want to but I think he also would understand that Harry needed to be the one to do it, to heal and she just isn't like that. Sorry if you're all a bit dissapointed that I didn't throw Maxson to the deathclaws or something but... well the muse took me this way.


	43. Repercussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Brotherhood fight back despite just losing their leader

          The Castle rang with the heavy silence of those waiting for war, Harry stood on the wide walls, Hancock behind her, his arms wrapped around her and his chin resting on her shoulder. The ghouls steady breath acted as an anchor, stopping her from panicking as two sets of eyes stared unbreaking at the dark mass of the Prydwen in the distance the nights sky twinkling with stars as it’s backdrop. Neither spoke, she felt like words would deafen them amidst this ringing silence so she instead concentrated on the rhythm of his breath, the gentle rise and fall of his chest against her back that had lulled her to sleep for so many nights. Below them people shuffled around, aware of the blanket of impenetrable quiet that surrounded them all as bags were stuffed with Ammo and guns collected from their hiding places. Harry wondered to herself if this was what Nate had meant the day he told her “there’s always a deadly hush before a battle, like no one wants to bring it down on them” the calm before the storm, she smiled to herself wondering if Nate would have been proud or horrified by her choices.  
          In the distance a Vertibird disconnected from the main ship and hovered low over the ground as it made it’s way towards them, followed by another and another,  
          “THEY’RE COMING” Harry yelled to the gathered crowd below, Hancock stepping away from her and grabbing his rifle “LET’S KICK SOME ASS” then the damn broke with the sounds of the first artillery and people rushing to their places atop the wall. A silence so still it was loud was replaced by cacophony of gunshot and cannons, missile launchers and shouts until Harry could hear nothing more than the ringing in her ears and faint muffled noises through the wall in her head. The first few Vertibird were shot down with ease and she winced to think of the casualties but when one broke through and set down on the slope below the castle walls, spilling out soldiers she fired her rifle along with everyone else, not thought given to who she was shooting down.  
          The fight lasted hours, or was it minutes, or perhaps even days, she didn’t know any more, it all passed in a blur once she grew numb to the screaming, the viscera that splayed as bullets found home or the gore of a head exploding from impact. She could see Strong down amongst them wearing more armour than she knew he had and flailing around bashing in skulls with a supersledge, she was glad he had reappeared when they needed him most. A vertibird somehow made it above the castle and the mini gun mowed down more of their people than Harry dared to count, for a second she was snapped back to reality as a missile hit it in and explosion of sparks, noise and fire sending the craft spiralling out of control to crash to a watery grave in the sea. It was downed and once again Harry’s senses glazed over and her mind was filled with a strange stillness as her hands and her voice did what needed to be done with no input from her. Her ghoul, her Mayour, her love was beside her for all of it and every time she caught sight of a flash of bright red in the milling, spinning vortex around her she felt calmer and found herself muttering his name under her breath “John Hancock... John Hancock... John Hancock”.  
          Over the flat horizon of the sea colours and light where bursting forth in a dazzling sunrise when the last of the Brotherhood troops retreated, Harry was still firing into a fray that just wasn’t there anymore and Hancock had to use a calming touch and gentle words to stop her and take the gun from her tense hands. As she came to she looked into his deep eyes and asked, “is it over?”  
          “Yes love, it’s over” he told her in a gentle tone, the rumble of his voice like smooth honey bringing her feet down to earth and gluing her there once again. She sighed feeling new air fill her lungs, pushing it back out sharply to take all the grogginess with it and she looked around her at piles of broken bodies on both sides of the walls, blood covering the ground and glistening in the first rays of a new day. Hancock put his arm around her shoulder and made to pull her away from the view all around her but she struggled out of his grasp, “No... I need to look... I need to remember because I don’t ever want to be numb to this”  
          “Sunshine you can’t look forever” he was concerned, that expressive face she fell in love with was laced with lines, brows knitted together as he looked down on her,  
          “Are the injured being taken care of?” he nodded and pointed out Curie and a few others trained in treating battle injuries busy below, fixing the wounded amongst the bodies of their fallen brethren “I want to talk to everyone, you’re good at that sort of thing John... help me make a speech”  
          “Just talk like you mean it and squeeze my hand when you’re scared”

          In the end his wonderful woman didn’t need his hand as she spoke over the minutemen radio to everyone in the commonwealth but he held onto her anyway, watching every movement of her lips and every twitch of muscle as she spoke. He knew he would always remember those words,  
          “I want everyone to know that today I won’t be celebrating a victory I will be mourning the loss of life on both sides of this conflict, I have seen too much death in my life by far. But I also want you to know that everyone inside the castle last night were willing to lay down their lives to protect the freedom of the Commonwealth and I don’t mean the freedom of those with homes or high walls to hide behind or even every human. We fought for the freedom of every human, ghoul, synth, drifter, farm worker and upper stands resident. No matter who you are or where you live you deserve the same right to life as any other living breathing thing. I have one rule that has got me through the whole of my time here and that is “if it tries to kill you try to kill it right back” but I’d like to add more “if it wants to live in peace, let it”. The Brotherhood wanted to take that from us and we kicked the Brotherhood’s arse!” a cheer rang up from the battle weary crowd and Hancock watched as the woman he loves eyes filled to the brim with tears and the crashed down over a smiling face. He made sure to squirrel this memory away for any point when times got hard to look back on the way his chest swelled with pride and her face beamed with joy.  
           Later that night a vertibird bearing a crudely painted white patch landed in front of the Castle, at the time he was sat on a rickety chair in a corner of the room, Jet inhaler in hand watching their closest friends chat happily as food and drink was passed around in huge quantities. One of the watchman who had been set up to patrol the walls and keep a sharp watch on the flying dick mobile burst through the door and breathlessly pulled Harry out of the room. Hancock put down the jet and followed behind, through the courtyard that had yet more food and drink and happy chatter being exchanged amongst the fighters and up onto the wall just in time to see the vertibird touch down. He took Harry’s hand and watched the converted power armour frame that was proctor Ingram’s permanent exoskeleton climb down from the craft,

           “I’ll meet her outside, can you have someone bring out tables and chairs?” she asked the young man that had dragged them out and he scurried away “John, come with me” she squeezed his hand tightly and led him past the great drawbridge,  
          “Harriette Monroe” the older woman greeted her, no small amount of distance in her voice “I have come to make a truce”  
          “I’m only interested in one thing Ingram and you know what that is” Harry sat in a chair when they were put down between them, still clutching Hancock’s hand “please take a seat, your guard of honour are welcome to sit too” she looked over at the two soldiers flanking the woman,  
          “We would prefer to stand, power armour can be difficult to sit in”  
          “Yes I learned that from a certain Paladin, well he was at the time”  
          “Danse’s death was unfortunate but-“ Harry held up a hand to silence the woman,  
          “You think Danse is dead, that’s what he told you? Proctor there are some things I think you should know about your Elder before you come to a decision on your next move” it took almost an hour and many arguments later with both Danse and Curie brought out to “give evidence” but Harry made it through her tale and convinced the woman that at least some of what she said was true. Hancock could see a glint in her eye as she spoke, she had told him she had trained to be a lawyer and explained in great detail what they did and he imagined this was it. The whole process ended with the Proctor convinced that Maxson had lied to her and agreeing that the brotherhood would leave the Commonwealth altogether. The next day a crowd gathered on the walls of the castle and the slopes of the hill around it to watch as the Prydwen disappeared into the distance.

 


	44. And Now For The Institute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if you can't figure out what this chapter is about then you probably have no idea what Fallout 4 is.

          Harry was wandering about the castle looking for Hancock when she heard his voice from the old entrance, it was never used since they put the drawbridge in but there were a couple of uncomfortable benches in it. She wondered what he would be doing in there and marched over to ask him, then she heard Nick’s voice, the film noir droll of her favourite bucket of bolts made her pause. The two were probably having a manly heart to heart (Harry secretly suspected it would involve hugging and crying and very unmanly things) she was about to leave them to it when she was alerted by her own name and she just couldn’t help but sneak closer and listen in,  
          “It’s not really about that is it?” Nick asked the ghoul, they’d been friends for years and the gen 2 synth could read him like a book,  
          “She’s just so... perfect” she smiled to hear Hancock say that,  
          “And that’s a problem?”  
          “No... yes... I dunno... The whole thing with Maxson, after everything he did she still gave him a chance to do the right thing and I keep thinking back to all the times I did the opposite” she narrowed her eyes and brought her brows together wondering if he often felt like this and didn’t tell her,  
          “So you’re not the level headed one in the relationship, that’s not exactly a problem... Jenny was always a bit easily distracted but old nick could work on cases for months at a time, it’s the differences that make it sweet”  
          “I get that... I’m just scared”  
          “Of what John”  
          “I’ve kinda been feeling like she needs me and I like it, never knew how nice it felt to be needed. I’m scared something stupid sets me off and I go off on a bender again and screw this whole thing up”  
          “So don’t go on a bender?”  
          “It’s not that easy... I think I need your help to quit the chems after this all blows over, get settled down to a normal life you know?”  
          “Hey you know how I feel about your chem consumption but have you asked her what she wants?”  
          “No, maybe I should”  
          “I think that might be a good place to start... come on she’ll be looking for you by now” she heard the scrape of wood against stone as they stood up and ran as silently as she could to a spot where she could ‘casually’ find them. She shouldn’t have heard that but she was glad she had, part of her still longed for the slow easy living of a settled down life and a chem free Hancock but... In the future, not yet, not for a long while yet, the both of them had some living to do first.

          Unbeknownst to Hancock Harry had been squirrelling away weapons in the institute as well as helping a gang of synths build enough new pipe rifles to stock an army, it was all part of the Railroads plan to rescue as many synths as possible before destroying the place once and for all. With all the friends Harry had gathered along the way happy to help (after a bit of convincing) it might just work and knowing her like he did she only needed one tiny sliver of hope to bring the world to it’s knees.  
After she explained the plan to the group they all left to get some rest before the big day started and Hancock was left looking over at his woman with a grin, but she was worried, a frown marring her delicate features,  
          “What’s up love?” he could guess at a few things really “thinking about tomorrow?”  
          “It’s not that… well not entirely… Hancock I want to talk about after” she looked ashamed for some reason he couldn’t quite fathom,  
          “After the big mission you mean?”  
          “Yea I… overheard you… with Valentine… I’m sorry”  
          “Nahh don’t be I figured you would pick up a few of Deacon’s habits along the way” so that’s where the guilty look came from,  
          “You talked about a lot of stuff, seemed to make a few decisions without me involved at all” she looked angry… no not angry… irked,  
          “Didn’t wanna bother you with my problems”  
          “Isn’t that what I’m here for?” she smiled “other than to make you look good”  
          “I manage that one on my own sunshine” he winked at her,  
          “I want to be here for you too, you’re so good at looking after me but… it should be a two way street” he hadn’t thought like that, just slipped into his place looking after her, especially after everything she’d been through,  
          “Ok next time I got something to talk about I come to you”  
          “And about the chems and all that stuff about settling down, I love our life… mostly and I love you just as you are. If you want to get clean do it for you not for me and settling down and building a farm can wait for old age… well my old age anyway” she walked up and put a hand on his chest, he could feel the heat of her through the thin shirt and god he wanted her in just about every way,  
          “God I don’t think I can ever get enough of you” he said, placing a hand on her cheek and pulling her in for a deep kiss and feeling sparks as she returned his passion. He groaned as her tongue parted his lips and he tasted her, she tasted like smoke and sweetness and the nuka cola she drank just before and he knew this was forever.  
          Before he realised what was happening her hands had reached under his coat and were pushing it off, he smiled as he went on kissing her, too scared to move too quickly or do too much, letting her take the lead. Her vault suit was slipped off quickly while he eyed her body hungrily holding back a growl that threatened to form in his throat, then her body was pushed against his and he could feel her through the thin shirt as they kissed again. Deft little hands undid the buttons of his shirt and pushed it to the floor where it landed with a soft noise in the silence of the room, only punctuated by the sounds of their lips meeting. He couldn’t help but shudder as her hands ran along his skin, so soft yet so strong and unabashedly exploring every scar, he loved the way she stared at his body sometimes, like she was fascinated by every dip and whorl of scar tissue just like he couldn’t get enough of her soft flesh.  
          He brought hungry hands up to run along her back, wallowing in the feel of her, remapping every little mole and scar he hadn’t forgotten and getting to know the new ones he hadn’t had the chance to stroke or kiss yet. He wanted to worship every last inch of her for the rest of his existence. She backed away slightly and he watched sadly as though she was running away again but her hands slipped into his and pulled him along with her to the bed in the corner of the big room. When she reached up to remove her bra he froze for a moment just marvelling in her beauty, stood in just her knickers in the flickering light of candles, shadows dancing across her body. She looked a little irritated and he realised it was because he was staring instead of undressing and couldn’t get his fly undone quick enough.  
          He sat on the edge of the bed, feet on the floor and she smiled at him with eyes hazy with lust, that face, that expression, that alone would be enough to get him off, enough to keep him at her side forever. As she straddled him and he entered her he groaned at the warmth around his cock and watched as she moved above him, slow and rhythmic and sensual, controlled in a way he could never quite manage. His hands ran circuits around her back as she rode him and groaned out her own pleasure, his mind was filled with her, his body on fire and his eyes must be mirroring hers full of passion and love. He shivered, sparks filling him, looking into her eyes as her face contorted and she gasped and panted and he felt her close around him pushing him to the edge. He pulled her in and kissed her deeply as they both came, his hands tangled in her hair and hers holding his shoulders to steady her shaking before she fell, her head on his shoulder and he held her there like that for what felt like forever. After that little bit of forever she lifted her head and looked him in the eyes smiling drowsily,  
          “Thank you” she breathed,  
          “For what?”  
          “Being you”  
          That night he held her close and watched her sleep, revelling in how peaceful she looked for the first time in months, it wasn’t until hours later that he surrendered to sleep hoping he would be that peaceful too.

          As always Hancock stood by her side as she spoke to her son for the last time, he was dieing, cancer and as she managed to persuade him to help her save as many people as possible she felt closer to him than she had since she had comforted him in the vault over 200 years ago. The irony was not lost on her, that she had come here to kill the monster her son had become and his life’s work in the process and that was the point when she finally found him, the real him, the person she hoped he would become. She would maybe have broken down crying right there if it weren’t for Hancock urging her on, telling her she needed to be strong for just a moment longer.  
          With the evacuation of both scientists and synths started with an alarm the two of them ran through the firefight in which their friends were fighting for their lives and Harry had to go against every instinct in her to force herself to just run past. Their goal was a reactor, switched on just days ago but capable of blowing the whole place sky high with just a little tweak and a remote detonator that sat on a roof just outside the blast zone. Before leaving themselves Hancock and Harry tried to help as many others as possible escape and she liked to think that few lives were lost that day outside the fighting itself. Even X6-88, the courser she had worked with a few times on institute missions she had done to maintain her cover, had followed her out after some serious persuasion, for some reason he still thought she was amazing even as she destroyed his home.  
          Then the worst thing she could never have imagined happened, a child tugged at her sleeve and she looked down to see her son, his hair shining, brown with highlights of red just like hers and Nate’s eyes almost about to spill over with tears,  
          “He says he’s your son” someone said at her shoulder but she hardly heard them as the world narrowed around this child. He was not her son and she knew that, she had seen him around and thought it sickening that “Father” would make a child replica of himself but now here he was looking up at her with a silent plea for help and she didn’t know what to do. Hancock managed to pull her out of the spiralling self doubt by shaking her, his arm around her shoulders, she couldn’t tell how long he’d been trying to rouse her,  
          “Harry love we need to figure out what to do with him, nearly everyone else is gone” he said when she looked at him dumbly, he must have been able to read her emotions on her face because next he added “let’s make it simple for now, take him with us or leave him here, that’s all you have to decide right now”  
          “I can’t leave him here” her voice was breaking as she spoke but Hancock smiled at her kindly, apparently agreeing. He took the child synths hand and pulled the two of them into the relay, passing him to someone else with instructions to take him to Railroad HQ and look after him for a bit.  
          A blinding flash of light saw them stood on a rooftop overlooking an empty part of cambridge, presumably the part that the institute stood under. Her head was a jumble of far too many things and the sickness that seemed to always come with teleportation didn’t exactly help,  
          “Whoo what a rush” Hancock announced as he appeared beside her in his own flash of light, holding his head underneath the hat and with his other arm wrapped around his stomach, it made her laugh albeit weakly,  
          “Would you care to do the honours Harry?” that was Desdemona who was stood at her side looking proud, of the railroad, of herself, of everything they had all done together and Harry couldn’t blame her even if she herself felt sick at what they had just done and what she was about to do with the simple push of a button,  
          “Go on love, I’ll be right here” Hancock encouraged her, she stepped up to the edge of the rooftop and the big red button and before she thought anymore she pushed it and wiped her real son off the face of the earth.

 


	45. A Decision and A Funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has to make a big decision and finally stops putting off an important task.
> 
> I want to say thanks to PostApocalypticPrincess for inspiration in this chapter, one of the ideas stuck in my head after reading her fic Take Two, after a while I forgot where I had read it (until recently) but the concept just wouldn't let go! Anyone who hasn't already should go and check out her stuff.

          She was sat outside Railroad HQ in the old north church, with no more institute and the Brotherhood gone, hopefully for good, Hancock and Danse (along with everyone else but mainly those two) had relaxed a little and she had the chance to sneak off to sit and think for a moment. It wasn’t working though, the mad jumble of thoughts just wouldn’t form a coherent pattern no matter how hard she tried. After a while of trying to herd her thoughts into mental pens like a dog with sheep Deacon sat down next to her, she hadn’t seen or heard him come up,  
          “You know the institute and the Brotherhood might be gone but there’s plenty out here that still wants to kill you” he said as he plopped down at her side on the dry dusty ground,  
          “Humm what?... sorry Deacon, so deep in thought”  
          “That’s what I meant, you don’t really want to sit out here and space out babe, it’s still pretty dangerous”  
          “Yea I know I just… I can’t think straight, I thought maybe some fresh air would help a bit you know?”  
          “Did it?”  
          “Did it hell… still thinking myself in circles”  
          “Wanna talk it over?” she thought about this for a moment which proved far easier than the rest of the jumble in her head,  
          “Yea actually I do… did we save a lot of people? by people I mean synths as well as, you know… human humans”  
          “I think so, we don’t entirely know how many yet, the relay spat a lot of them out all over the place so we’re gonna have a lot of work on our hands finding everyone and getting them all to somewhere safe”  
          “The scientists too?”  
          “If they cooperate we’ll do what we can for them but otherwise they’re on their own”  
          “Seems fair, I want to help”  
          “Sure any help is appreciated… Harry why don’t you talk about what we both know the real problem is”  
          “He’s not my son… don’t get me wrong it’s not about him being a synth it’s more about… I saw my son, he was dieing and when I pressed that button I took away what little time he had left and then I’m faced with this boy who looks like my son should and acts like my son should but… he’s not my son”  
          “He’s as close as they come but I do understand, it’s not exactly something we’ve had to deal with… ever”  
          “Will he age?”  
          “We don’t know, most gen 3 synths don’t age but he’s not like anything else we’ve ever come across… if he doesn’t… god that’s just… sick”  
          “I can’t be a mom to a fake Shaun who’ll never age I just…” she trailed off in a flood of tears at which point Hancock found her because if that ghoul had anything it was a knack for perfect timing,  
          “What did you do to my girlfriend Deacon?” he asked, his raspy voice part threatening and part joking,  
          “Hey don’t pin this on me, just trying to help… I think you guys need to talk and I promise I won’t even eavesdrop” Harry felt him move away to be replaced by the familiar presence of Hancock who started to rub a comforting hand up and down her back whilst making soothing noises,  
          “What’s the matter sunshine?” he asked her, his voice alone helping her relax,  
          “It’s that… kid… that… synth Shaun”  
          “I figured as much”  
          “What do you want?”  
          “I can’t decide for you love”  
          “But it’s your decision too, you have to live with whatever I decide… that is if you still want to be a part of my life”  
          “Course I do love” he put an arm around her and pulled her in for a deep hug,  
          “I don’t know if I can love him”  
          “If that’s how you feel then that’s how you feel”  
          “So what do we do?”  
          “I suppose the Railroad can find him somewhere safe and a chance to be happy”  
          “I don’t want to know where though, so I can’t change my mind at some point and mess the poor kid about, that’s not fair, once it’s done it’s done”  
          “I’ll get it sorted, don’t you worry about it anymore” he gave her shoulders a quick squeeze before standing up,  
          “Oh and John, I think I need to do something I’ve been putting off for too long” he just nodded and smiled a little distantly, he knew exactly what she meant.

          Sanctuary was back to it’s former glory, well as much glory as Hancock had ever seen it anyway which wasn’t saying much really, but it was back to looking pretty much the same if not a little better than it did before the Brotherhood attacked the place. To his and Harry’s brief surprise they were ready for them when the little rag tag collection of freaks and weirdoes strolled in, then they both cottoned on and swapped knowing smiles, Mama Murphy, the old drug addicted psychic must have got a hold of something. It was honestly nice just to sleep in a real bed that night, he and Harry both agreed that sex would not be happening considering what they were here to do but it just felt nice to hold her close and tell her how much he loved her. The next day was going to be long and hard so he made the most of that night and a rare opportunity for peace.

          The sun rose on a crisp and bright morning in sanctuary and Harry woke to Hancock draped over her and snoring, she would never figure out how he managed to snore so much without a nose but it was a quirk that she loved (at least when she fell asleep before him). He woke and smiled at her as soon as she stretched herself awake, burying his face in her chest and begging for five more minutes,  
          “Come on John, it’s a big day” she poked him playfully in the ribs a few times until he groaned and threw himself off the bed and grumbled his way into the bathroom. Harry was struck by just how normal and domestic it was if you ignored the patched up holes in the wall and the fact that the naked man who just left her only had about 30% of his skin, it gave her a surprisingly warm and fuzzy feeling.  
          Breakfasted, washed and dressed they made their way to Harry’s house, or what had been her house before her world was destroyed and reformed into something new, different, not worse nor better just, different. Out the back in the once beautiful garden that Nate had loved tending to she found a hole had already been dug, six foot deep and with a ladder up the side, she looked at Hancock confused,  
          “Mama Murphy?” she guessed,  
          “Must be, unless there’s a new creature inhabiting Sanctuary”  
          “I don’t think Dogmeat digs holes so uniform” they both shrugged and made their way across the little bridge at the back of Sanctuary and up the hill to the vault entrance to find the inhabitants of the settlement and their friends already there. Including Mama Murphy who Harry zeroed in on right away,  
          “Mama?” she asked the tiny old woman who had a grin a mile wide glued to her face,  
          “Yes dear?” the old woman was making an attempt to look innocent, it wasn’t working surprisingly,  
          “Is this your doing?”  
          “Yes, the sight let me know why you were here and sturges and the rest of the townsfolk helped me prepare”  
          “Thank you” she gently squeezed the old ladies shoulder,  
          “I’ll give you some time then Preston and Danse have offered to help me carry the em… coffin… we guessed Hancock would too” the ghoul nodded at Sturges who looked a bit nervous and taken aback by the whole situation but by now mostly everyone had learned to trust Mama Murphy’s visions.  
          The vault was exactly how Harry remembered it, cold mostly and full of her dead neighbours, it was her past and today she was going to say goodbye to her past for good. Nate’s pod was at the end opposite the only open one,  
          “That one was mine” she pointed out to Hancock as they walked towards them through the otherworldly fog that clung to the floor around the cryopods,  
          “You were right in front… so you saw...“  
          “Everything, every last detail” she sighed and hung her head,  
          “I’m sorry” he moved over and put a hand around her waist, a warm reminder of the future on this cold trip to the past. Nate’s cryopod loomed in front of them, the little glass window iced up, for all she knew then he wasn’t in there he was out enjoying life still… but she had to face facts at some point. The pod gave off a hiss as it opened and she looked up at the frozen body of the man she had once planned to spend the rest of her life with, he looked like he could have been sleeping,  
          “I feel like I should say something profound” she said to Hancock who just shrugged, unable to think of what to say for once,  
          “Say what comes to mind?” he suggested,  
          “That’s mostly swearwords”  
          “So swear then”  
          “Fine” she pulled in a deep breath “Nate, I love you and it was really shitty what happened to you and it was really fucking shitty what happened to shaun and for a long time I thought I couldn’t live without you but… I’m happy, I have friends, I found someone who cares about me a lot, you’d probably hate him but that’s ok. Life is bearable and I don’t think I would be here without you, thank you for everything you did for me and for making me happy for so many years. Now it’s time to rest, I’m putting you in your favourite spot in the garden and I won’t be back very often but I will think about you a lot wherever I am. I love you Nate… goodbye”  
          “See that was profound” Hancock told her and she smiled up at him, tears threatening to spill over. The lift could be heard moving through the dead silence of the vault “how does that woman do it?”  
          “I don’t know… perfect timing and everything” she whispered, though it was almost a sob.

          Hancock was holding back tears as he carried the casket and helped lower it into the ground, he never in a million years thought he would end up crying at the funeral of someone he never met, who had lived most of their life two hundred years before him yet here he was. Preston had asked Harry if she wanted to say something but she told him she had already said all she wanted to, he asked Hancock too but he had no idea what he would say, which for someone famed for his silver tongue was pretty frustrating. In the end Preston himself stepped up,  
          “None of us knew you Nate but everyone here is eternally thankful that you helped bring Harriette to us, you loved a wonderful woman and because of that she had the opportunity to change not only the fate of the Commonwealth but each and every one of our lives. Thank you Nate, from everyone whose lives your wife has improved” Hancock heard Harry sigh as Preston finished his speech and stepped a little closer to take her hand, she smiled up at him and together, hand in hand they walked away,  
          “How do you feel?” he asked her softly,  
          “Like a weight has been lifted, I’ve been able to say a last goodbye to the past and now I’m free to think about the future… after all there’s plenty of work still to be done”

THE END


	46. Epilogue

“Do you love me?”  
“Always”  
“Do you still think I'm hot?”  
“Yep, I could think of a thousand things to do with you right now”  
“Wanna make this long term?”

          It had been years since they had ‘retired’ and moved to spectacle island, glad to see that the place had grown and filled with settlers in the time it took them to actually want to settle down, now it was thriving with boats between the island and the mainland twice a day and a few boats fishing on the open waters. What had once been a little hut where they’d first stayed had grown into a three story house, bigger than either of them wanted and a bitch to clean but codsworth lives for cleaning. It kinda had to end up this way though, the island's population had grown and once it got to around one hundred it was decided they should elect a mayor. The whole thing messed with Hancock's head for a while, after all he still felt guilty for what had happened in diamond city and worried it would repeat on their beautiful island with some corrupt politician in charge. It came as a shock to everyone (most of all to Hancock) when they chose him, after all the trouble they’d had as a couple just because he was ghoul and here were people who truly cared, truly trusted him. Things were changing and he was a big part of that, they were both a big part of that. He ended up being Mayor for decades, it was an easier job than Goodneighbour, it was much less likely someone would stab you. People came to visit from all over, they had so many friends who just couldn’t keep away.  
          Danse had mellowed out after the brotherhood left and now he and Hancock had a friendly rivalry, the ex-Paladin took his promise to always be by Harry’s side very seriously and took a lot of pride in building himself a place on the other side of island. His place was lovely, just a small one story shack but surrounded by plants and with a little jetty so he could fish. It seemed to Harry he liked being far away from the rest of the town because he never got over the Brotherhood’s betrayal and didn’t think he’d feel as close to anyone as he did his brothers and sisters. Preston appeared once every few months, after everything that happened the minutemen went from strength to strength even after Harry resigned as General and now they were the main force in the Commonwealth. He'd taken to making his patrol the whole of the Commonwealth and would simply tour all the minutemen outposts including this one. Every time he visited Harry tried to convince him he was too old for all that moving about but he always told her he would be a minuteman until the day he died.  
          Deacon reappears every now and then, to be honest he just appears, he could be on the island right now for all anyone knew and really no one had any idea what he was doing with his life now that there were no synths to be saved. Piper and Nat usually came Down with Valentine, the three of them had managed to turn Diamond city into something great and now it spilled out of the stadium and into the surrounding ruins and the Public Occurrences had a team of staff and was sold around the Commonwealth. X6-88 lived in Diamond city too but only visited when someone forced him to, he’d ended up getting the job as bodyguard for the Mayor and took it very seriously. Fahrenheit took over as Mayor of Goodneighbour for a while but eventually passed that on to someone else and came to join them on the island, she refused to admit it but Harry thought she had missed Hancock. Strong just wandered off one day, Hopefully to find the milk of human kindness. Curie finally found her cause and moved into the hospital at sanctuary with Virgil and together they are working on cures for all sorts of things, the hospital itself was open to people from all walks of life including ghouls and the occasional friendly super mutant, they were still working on an all round cure for FEV. They make it down once in awhile no matter how busy they are.  
          In the end Harry revived all the holidays she used to celebrate before the bombs (well other than the 4th of July) and come Christmas everyone would be here. That's why the house grew and grew, to accommodate everyone they knew! The citizens of the island had painted it inside and out with lovely pale colours that always made her think of old colonial houses, Harry even managed to have a garden although what grew in it was fairly limited it was still pretty and peaceful. Now Hancock and Harry have a big party every year to commemorate the day they first arrived on the island, it’s a big deal and everyone dresses in their best and there’s always plenty of food and booze (and chems) and Magnolia usually comes down to sing. Harry never told anyone but him that she considers that day their anniversary, they just celebrate that on their own, drunk from the party and wrapped up in each other.  
          As Harry grew older the life of mayor's wife grew easier, it took a long while for her to get over the urge to leave every time her feet got itchy and even longer to heal from the emotional scars left over from the Brotherhood and the Institute. But she got old. Battle scars faded as the wrinkles grew, her ghoul never stopped looking at her with that hunger though. He didn’t age the same, always looked like the same zombie pirate she met so many years ago when he stabbed a guy to impress her, sometimes she cried about that when she was alone and no one could see.  
          When the doctor told them she was dying Hancock gave up his seat as Mayor (after a lot of swearing and throwing things) and they just lived for as long as they could, spent their time in each other’s arms or sat in the garden watching the mutated birds fly overhead. Even though she was only 65 when it happened she got tired quicker and he hardly let her do anything herself, all the fussing bothered her and she told him that but honestly she loved the attention he never hesitated to pile on her. One day she remembered the promise he made in this very house all those years ago in the flush of young love with their bodies pressed against each other. She realized it was now or never, actually she didn't know why they hadn't done it before since now they knew how. Maybe she worried that if she wasn’t sexy he wouldn’t want her anymore or if it hadn’t worked he’d blame himself so she kept putting it off,  
          “Do you love me?” she asked, her voice aged and wrong in her ears when she still pictured herself as the woman who had stumbled out of the vault in a state of shock and somehow managed to change the Commonwealth,  
          “Always” he answered in the same cocky tone and gravelly voice as he'd had since the day they met,  
          “Do you still find me attractive?”  
          “Yep, I could think of a thousand things I want to do to you right now”  
          “Wanna make this long term?” he sat bolt upright and turned to her,  
          “What?.... as in?…. Are you sure?”  
          “Yep” she smiled at the shock on his face,  
          “It's not like you'll be young again… you might die”  
          “I'm already dying, I want more time with you and I'll give anything… anything”  
          He patiently explained how it would work and what it felt like to be a ghoul, she even made him explain how painful it was in the first months but Harry didn’t flinch or look scared she just smiled silently while he talked. It was pretty simple really, Vrigil and Curie had found out what it was that made ghouls turn and not die or go feral, it was all in the DNA and with a little help and a lot of luck it could be replicated. Curie came the second they told her what they wanted to do, she didn’t exactly approve of the risks but told them she could make something that'd need a while to get from her bloodstream to the places it needed to be. Curie was still bad at hiding her emotions and it was obvious she was excited to try it out, it should work in theory but had never actually been done before. It meant a long course of potentially painful treatments but it could work. After that it was just walking into the glowing sea with their fingers crossed. She didn’t for one second imagine Hancock wouldn’t come with her, he was by her side for everything.  
          After weeks worth of injections that kept Harry up at night screaming, which made Hancock all the more protective, they were ready to go. All their friends came to see them off, it turned into a big impromptu party in the end, which was kind of Hancock’s speciality. They said their goodbyes to everyone on the island with lots of hugging and tears from their closest friends, even Danse shed a tear after Harry managed to convince him not to follow.  
          The railroad were small now, mostly helping synths who were facing persecution and a lot of agents had gone on to other things, but they still had that vertibird they’d all stolen together so it was upto them to get Harry there. Deacon came with them aboard the plane so was the last to say his goodbye, Harry could have sworn she saw him cry behind those sunglasses but he wiped the tears away while pretending to cough and the moment passed too quickly.

          Hancock took her in his arms like a bride and carried her into the desolate wasteland that was the glowing sea. Even after all this time it was as potent as ever and really creepy with the jagged rocks and deep ravines and that constant glow. They never came back out again, no one really knew what happened, not really. Some people say Harry must have died and Hancock is still wandering the place as a well dressed feral, others insist they didn’t go through with it and chose to go out together instead. But every once in awhile a story would come back from a far off place about two ghouls, husband and wife, dressed as pirates and spreading justice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not crying... you're crying
> 
> I feel a little odd at having finally got this whole thing out there to you... like it's the end of an era or something and it's been a blast, it really has. I never in a million years thought I would get the reception I did, this whole damn fandom is full of so many lovely, supportive people who know just the right things to say and I'm proud to be a part of it. Thank you all for reading and I... I'll miss my junkie and my new girl, they've come so far!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfic so go easy on me. I mostly wrote it for me but figured I'd share with the rest of the class despite the fact that there's already tons of Hancock/Female sole survivor stuff out there. 
> 
> Kinda hoped that each chapter could be read as a standalone piece as well as part of the whole so feel free to bob in and out as you wish..


End file.
